With a friendship network comprising 88 foreign localities and 20 international organisations, HCM City has established a strong foundation for its pioneering, dynamic role in Việt Nam's sub-national diplomacy. 

During the 3rd HCM City Friendship Dialogue, foreign diplomats and representatives of the city's international partners spoke to Việt Nam News reporter Hồng Linh about bilateral ties and multifaceted cooperation between their localities and HCM City.

Etienne Ranaivoson 

Consul General of France in HCM City

Etienne Ranaivoson, consul general of France in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of the French Consulate General in HCM City

The partnership between HCM City and the city of Lyon takes place in the broader but very important framework of our comprehensive strategic partnership.

France has had a comprehensive strategic partnership with Việt Nam since 2024, and there is a very strong connection between the leaderships of our two countries. 

This year also marks the third time our two leaders have had a high-level visit. The partnership between Lyon and HCM City takes place in this very dynamic bilateral relationship.

The two cities share a very strong and deeply rooted relationship that started in 1990. 

Lyon was here at the very beginning of the opening of Việt Nam, and has been a strong partner ever since. Lyon is a reliable sister city for HCM City, with different strands of cooperation, particularly strong economic cooperation. This also includes culture, which has been a very powerful way of cooperating between the two cities, and higher education, with much cooperation between universities.

I think we can speak about three major fields of cooperation between Lyon and HCM City. 

The first one is health, including tech in the health sector. This is because Lyon is one of the main cities in Europe for the health sector. It is the seat of very strong health companies such as bioMérieux, Boiron, and Sanofi. 

During General Secretary and President Tô Lâm's visit to Paris recently, another MOU was signed between VNVC Vaccine JS Company and Sanofi Group, indicating that health is a key aspect in the economic partnership between Lyon and HCM City. 

The second sector is construction and engineering. There are a lot of projects ongoing here in Việt Nam, and Lyon has been the historical base of one of the main French engineering companies, Artelia, that has been active in Việt Nam for more than 20 years. The company is involved in many major projects here, such as the high-speed line, railway constructions, and the Long Thành International Airport.

The third sector is banking and finance. It is because, after Paris, Lyon is the major seat of financial activities in France, especially in insurance. With the development of the Việt Nam International Finance Center, especially in the city, I think this will be a major area of development in the future between the two cities.

Brent Stewart 

Deputy Consul-General of Australia in HCM City

Brent Stewart, deputy consul general of Australia in HCM City. — Photo SEAMEO RETRAC

If you are an Australian state or any locality from overseas looking to establish a relationship with a locality of Việt Nam, HCM City is obviously going to be high on that list.

It is by far the biggest locality in terms of population and economic production, with huge growth potential in areas Australia is particularly interested in, including education, science and research, consumer products, and high-quality foods and beverages.

HCM City has formal relations with five Australian states and territories: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. These relations are quite well developed already with a strong economic and education focus.

For instance, Victoria, which is the second biggest state by population in Australia, has extensive links in education.

Australian education institutions, particularly universities, are very interested in expanding educational opportunities in Việt Nam. Of course, many people in HCM City would be familiar with the RMIT from Melbourne in Victoria, which has the only foreign branch university campus in Việt Nam and celebrated the 25th anniversary of its presence here recently.

There are also lots of transnational education links between Australian universities and local universities as well, which also provide educational opportunities for Vietnamese students without them having to go to Australia.

One I would like to mention is Australia's University of Technology Sydney (UTS) from New South Wales which last year started a Transnational Education programme with HCM City University of Technology under the Vietnam National University-HCM City offering bachelor's degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology. 

Other important Australian investments in HCM City include Western Australian-based ship builder Austal. Austal commenced operations in March 2018 in Đông Xuyên Industrial Park in Vũng Tàu Ward, with a shipyard focussed on producing commercial vessels for export.

There are opportunities for Australia and Việt Nam in the trade of consumer products, food and beverages. Australian states are interested in exporting wine and high-quality foods – including Australian beef, of course – while Việt Nam is increasingly exporting fruit to Australia.

Another strong interest from all the states, and closely related to their education links, is in the area of research and technological cooperation.

This is of course a major focus of General Secretary and President Tô Lâm's approach to developing the economy, trying to move Việt Nam higher up in international supply chains by the application of technology, science and knowledge. Australian states and territories can support this ambition.

We also have had many visits to HCM City from state government officials recently. We have had a visit from the Northern Territory Trade Minister as well as the Trade Minister from South Australia and the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory.

Keiko Murakami

Deputy Director-General for International Policy and Coordination, International Affairs Department at the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan.

Keiko Murakami (left), deputy director-general for International Policy and Coordination, International Affairs Department of the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan. — Photo courtesy of FD 2026

HCM City, along with Hà Nội, is one of Việt Nam's two major hubs. It boasts industrial clusters, numerous research facilities and institutions, and a concentration of outstanding companies, including many from around the world.

Within the relationship with Japan, and particularly our region, we view that, in the future, HCM City will be very open to adopting new technologies as well as opening up to international trade.

The Kansai region comprises seven prefectures, including Fukui, Shiga, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, and Wakayama.

In this region, for instance, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City are collaborating with HCM City on various initiatives. Furthermore, we had been collaborating with former Bình Dương Province previously in areas such as environmental energy, energy conservation, and eco-industrial parks. These are initiatives that HCM City is also planning to pursue.

We have practical experience implementing these projects in the former Bình Dương, and we hope to leverage that experience for the benefit of the merged HCM City. — VNS