Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng. Photo Ministry of Foreign Affairs

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm's upcoming state visit to Russia, official visit to France and attendance at the International Space Summit in Paris are expected to mark new milestones in Việt Nam's comprehensive strategic partnerships with the two countries, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng.

In an interview granted to the press ahead of the tour from September 7 to 12, Hằng said the visits are important both bilaterally and multilaterally. This will be the first state visit to Russia by the head of the Party and State of Việt Nam since 1991, while the trip to France will be General Secretary and President Lâm's second official visit to the country.

Meanwhile, the International Space Summit will be the world's first bringing together heads of state and government to discuss outer space.

The visits seek to maximise the strengths of Việt Nam and its partners in support of each side's new development process while opening up opportunities for cooperation in a future-oriented field – outer space.

Regarding Việt Nam–Russia relations, Hằng said the two countries have enjoyed strong friendship for more than 75 years, underpinned by a very high level of political trust and broad social foundations.

The visit underscores the importance that the Party and State of Việt Nam attach to the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia. It also demonstrates Việt Nam's consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, and diversification and multilateralisation of its external relations.

It is expected to help Việt Nam tap appropriate resources in energy, science – technology, human resources training and infrastructure development to implement Politburo resolutions and support the country's fast and sustainable development.

It will provide an opportunity for the highest-ranking leaders of the two countries to hold in-depth discussions on strategic issues, establish a long-term vision and create a new milestone and fresh political impetus to comprehensively elevate Việt Nam–Russia relations, while aligning bilateral cooperation with the development goals of each country in the new period, said Hằng.

Turning to Việt Nam–France relations, she noted that bilateral ties are growing positively and comprehensively, underpinned by increasingly strong political trust and deep historical, cultural and people-to-people ties.

The visit reaffirms the special importance Việt Nam attaches to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with France and is expected to help the two countries become each other's strategic gateways to the EU and ASEAN.

In addition, it will also connect France's strengths in science – technology, innovation and strategic technologies with Việt Nam's emerging development needs, helping attract resources for fast and sustainable development and generating momentum to make bilateral ties deeper, more substantive and effective, according to the official.

On the multilateral front, General Secretary and President Lâm's attendance at the International Space Summit in Paris reflects Việt Nam's development vision and proactive approach to international integration. It also represents the highest-level implementation of the Party's major guidelines and orientations on foreign affairs, international integration, and the development of science, technology and innovation. The participation is expected to enable Việt Nam to engage in the shaping of international cooperation frameworks in a field of growing strategic importance to the country.

Space technology is directly linked to the digital economy, telecommunications, Earth observation, natural resource management, weather forecasting, disaster prevention and control, climate change response, security, and other essential areas.

The summit will provide an important opportunity for Việt Nam to contribute to shaping space governance towards peace, safety, sustainability and fairness for the common benefit of humanity, while further affirming the country as a proactive, constructive and responsible member of the international community in addressing global challenges, Hằng continued.

Regarding the visits' expected outcomes, Hằng said that with Russia, building on more than 75 years of traditional friendship and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the trip is set to further strengthen political trust and enhance top-level diplomacy through regular contacts between the two countries' highest leaders.

It will also seek to improve the effectiveness of cooperation through Party, State, Government, parliamentary and people-to-people channels, and promote the efficiency of the Intergovernmental Committee and the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

The visit is hoped to generate breakthroughs in traditional areas of cooperation, particularly oil, gas and energy, including nuclear power, while making economic, trade and investment ties and infrastructure connectivity new drivers of bilateral relations. It is also expected to foster air, maritime and railway connectivity and encourage businesses from both countries to invest in each other's markets.

Việt Nam and Russia will further enhance cooperation in science – technology, innovation and high-quality human resources training, with strong potential in digital technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology, biomedicine, pharmaceuticals, machinery manufacturing, smart transport and basic research.

To reinforce the social and humanistic foundations of bilateral ties, the two countries will promote Vietnamese and Russian language teaching, along with exchanges among students, lecturers, artists and high-performance athletes. They will also step up cinema, tourism and locality-to-locality links, while making greater use of the role of friendship associations, alumni networks and the Vietnamese community in Russia, the deputy minister said.

With France, she added, the visit will provide an important occasion to further consolidate political trust, establish a long-term vision and translate the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into concrete programmes, projects and outcomes, beginning with effective implementation of the 2026–2028 Action Plan.

It aims to give stronger impetus to economic, trade and investment collaboration, and make science – technology, innovation and digital transformation new drivers of bilateral ties.

The two sides are set to explore important directions in strategic and sustainable-development areas, including new energy, green transition, climate change, transport – infrastructure, defence – security, and education – training, while injecting fresh momentum into traditional fields such as culture, healthcare, justice, agriculture and locality-to-locality cooperation.

With the visit taking place alongside the International Space Summit, space technology and the space industry are also expected to emerge as a new strategic area of Việt Nam–France cooperation. The event will create conditions for Việt Nam to engage at an early stage in shaping global rules, standards and governance mechanisms for emerging areas of outer space, including space surveillance systems, data, frequency management and space traffic, while facilitating substantive contacts and cooperation with international partners in the field, according to Hằng. — VNA/VNS