PM’s business trip to China for regional summits holds great significance, says ambassador

The diplomat was speaking in an interview granted to VOV ahead of Chinh’s departure for Kunming, China, to attend the eighth Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit, the 10th Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit and the 11th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation Summit from November 5 to 8. Following is the full text of the interview.

VOV: Would you please highlight the significance of the PM’s business trip to China?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: The 8th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit is the first high-level, in-person GMS cooperation meeting to be held in six years, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s summit, themed Towards a Better Community Through Innovation-Driven Development, will feature a closed session and a plenary session, focusing on discussions about cooperation progress since the 7th GMS Summit and directions for future cooperation. Alongside the GMS Summit, the Prime Minister will also attend the 10th Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit (ACMECS) and the 11th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation Summit (CLMV).

In the context of complex, unpredictable international and regional developments, the PM’s engagement in the 8th GMS Summit demonstrates Vietnam’s active implementation of an independent, self-reliant, peaceful foreign policy that promotes multilateralism, diversification, comprehensive international integration, and effective multilateral diplomacy.

It underscores Vietnam’s commitment to subregional cooperation mechanisms, including GMS cooperation. Vietnam’s initiatives to be put forward at the summit will contribute to advancing key areas and pillars of the GMS framework, such as enhancing hard and soft infrastructure connectivity, responding to climate change, and sustainably managing water resources. It also reaffirms Vietnam’s role as a founding GMS member, contributing effectively to the shared goals and vision of the GMS.

Vietnam and other GMS member countries are neighbours, sharing the Mekong River and fostering friendly relations and common interests in building a well-integrated, prosperous, sustainable, and comprehensively developed subregion that can address shared challenges effectively. Therefore, the Vietnamese delegation’s participation at the summit will strengthen relationships between Vietnamese localities and neighboring localities. Given the geographical proximity and convenient transportation links between GMS member countries, local cooperation has become an essential component of the broader GMS cooperation framework. A GMS Economic Corridors Forum is also expected to be held on the sidelines of the summit.

Besides attending the meetings, the PM will make a visit to Yunnan Province and Chongqing City, reflecting the continuation of high-level exchanges between the two Parties and countries, as well as the high regard that the Party, State, and Government of Vietnam have for Vietnam-China relations. It underscores Vietnam’s commitment to advancing high-level consensus and implementing agreements between the two sides from a local perspective, encouraging localities in both countries to fully leverage their potential and advantages, complement each other’s strengths, and expand and enhance the effectiveness and quality of cooperation in various areas.

VOV: How has the Vietnamese Embassy in China prepared for this “two-in-one” working trip? What expectations does the Ambassador have regarding the outcomes of the visit?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: At the 8th GMS Summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other GMS leaders are expected to adopt the Joint Summit Declaration and the 2030 Innovation Strategy for GMS Development (GMS-30). They will also acknowledge six documents on investment, environment and climate change, digitalization, gender equality, health care, and a framework for digital trade documentation. These key outcomes will create new momentum for subregional cooperation, particularly within the GMS framework. The commitment to advancing cooperation, addressing shared challenges, and fostering solidarity will strengthen friendship between Vietnam and its neighbours while enhancing the strategic role of the GMS in regional integration. Additionally, the GMS cooperation directions to be outlined at the Summit will support ASEAN community-building and help shape a regional structure centered on ASEAN.

Bilaterally, I hope this visit will yield concrete, meaningful outcomes for both sides.

First, the visit will propose practical, effective measures to implement the high-level consensus reached by the top leaders of both Parties and countries, encouraging Yunnan Province, Chongqing City, and Vietnamese localities to increase mutual understanding and expand cooperation mechanisms. This will help harness each side’s potential and strengths, creating new growth drivers for bilateral cooperation.

Second, the visit will help identify key priorities and specific measures to advance substantive cooperation in areas such as economics, trade, investment, infrastructure, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Third, the visit will serve as an important milestone for both sides to enhance public awareness and education about the traditional friendship and promising cooperation between the two countries, thereby strengthening the social foundation for the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and the Vietnam-China Community of Shared Future with strategic significance.

The Vietnamese Embassy in China has worked hard to prepare for the PM’s business trip, considering it as both an honour and a top priority this year. The Embassy has maintained close contact with relevant agencies and localities of both sides to ensure the success of the trip.

VOV: Could you introduce the strengths of Yunnan Province and Chongqing City, and their potential for cooperation with Vietnam?
Ambassador Pham Sao Mai: Yunnan Province is geographically close to the northwestern provinces of Vietnam and serves as a gateway connecting China with South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. In recent years, the exchange and cooperation between Yunnan and various Vietnamese localities have been actively promoted, with many effective mechanisms for cooperation established, such as the annual conference between the Party Secretaries of the provinces of Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Dien Bien, and Lai Chau of Vietnam and Yunnan Province of China, as well as the cooperation conference for the economic corridor involving five cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, and Yunnan. Cooperation in border management, transportation connectivity, the development of border gates, cultural exchanges, sports, and tourism has also yielded significant results.

Regarding economic and trade cooperation, Yunnan and its Vietnamese counterparts have coordinated efforts to promote trade, facilitate customs clearance, and alleviate challenges in import and export activities. In the first eight months of 2024, bilateral trade value between Yunnan and Vietnam reached US$2.09 billion, marking a 30.31% increase compared to the same period last year.

In the near future, Yunnan and Vietnamese localities will continue to expand and enhance cooperation effectiveness in areas such as delegation exchanges, economics-trade-investment, border gate development, transportation connectivity, border management, and tourism.

Additionally, the close geographical proximity, long-standing friendly relations, and cultural similarities will facilitate the implementation of cultural exchange activities, contributing to strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between the people, especially those in the border areas of both countries.

Meanwhile, Chongqing City is an important economic development center in Western China, boasting four notable advantages. It is a centrally administered city, which allows for proactive and effective decision-making. Moreover, Chongqing has a high level of economic openness and serves as a transportation and logistics hub, acting as a key transit point on the international railway connecting China to Europe. It is also one of China’s leading industrial manufacturing centers, particularly in automotive and electronics production. Additionally, with its rich cultural history, Chongqing has abundant tourism resources.

For Vietnam, Chongqing has a long-standing traditional friendship, as it was the place where President Ho Chi Minh lived and engaged in revolutionary activities during his lifetime. Many leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State have visited Chongqing. Recently, the exchanges and cooperation between Vietnam and Chongqing have yielded positive results. Since 2019, Vietnam has consistently been Chongqing’s largest trading partner in ASEAN. In the first seven months of 2024, the import-export turnover between Vietnam and Chongqing reached US$$3.03 billion, with US$1.88 billion worth of Vietnamese exports. As of the end of July 2024, Vietnam had five investment projects in Chongqing with a total investment of US$8.1 million, while Chongqing had 22 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of US$296 million.

I believe that Vietnam and Chongqing have significant potential to further deepen and make their cooperation more substantive. To do this, we should leverage the traditional friendship to strengthen cooperative exchanges between Vietnamese localities and Chongqing. We need to enhance strategic connectivity and infrastructure, effectively exploit the international railway line from Chongqing to European countries to facilitate Vietnamese goods’ exports to third countries.

It's important to continue to expand bilateral trade turnover, by increasing mutual imports of goods, including high-quality agricultural and aquatic products from Vietnam, creating complementary trade structures. In addition, we aim to attract more high-tech industrial investments from reputable enterprises in Chongqing to Vietnam, especially in green transition and digital transformation sectors.

Last but not least, we should further promote people-to-people exchanges, better exploit tourism cooperation potential, and explore additional flight routes between Chongqing and various localities in Vietnam.