Participants at the symposium. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM City — HCM City has gained great achievements in all fields through the past 50 years of implementing Vietnam’s external policy, heard a scientific symposium held in the city on Friday.

The event, part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 – 2025), brought together leading experts, scholars, and managers in the fields of diplomacy and international relations from across the country.

Addressing the symposium, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Võ Văn Hoan highlighted that shortly after national reunification, amid countless difficulties, the city recognised the strategic importance of foreign affairs in post-war recovery and socio-economic development. 

In 1985, during the subsidised economy period, HCM City welcomed a delegation of nearly 70 US businesspeople seeking investment opportunities - an iconic event symbolising the city’s proactive, reform-oriented approach to foreign relations.

Since then, the city has become a pioneer in international cooperation models, from Tân Thuận Export Processing Zone to Phú Mỹ Hưng Urban Area, and from large-scale investment promotion to diverse cultural, educational, healthcare, and environmental exchanges, he stated.

Hoan said that the city has established friendly and cooperative ties with 58 localities worldwide and is an active member of many international organisations. Since the “Đổi Mới” (Renewal) in 1986, the city has acted as a front-runner in implementing the Party’s foreign policy at the local level, blending Party, State, and people-to-people diplomacy into a unique “multi-layered diplomacy” model.

The municipal leader said that in the 2025–2045 period, the city aims to become a leading centre of economy, finance, and innovation in Southeast Asia. To realise this ambition, diplomacy must be elevated with a proactive, effective, creative, and distinctive approach. 

The city has issued a strategic foreign affairs roadmap to 2030, with a vision to 2045, built on three key pillars: diplomacy for sustainable development, diplomacy aligned with global trends, and diplomacy that creates new value. The goal is to position itself as a hub of global initiatives and innovation, and a modern representation of Vietnamese culture.

Participants also discussed HCM City’s pioneering role in experimenting with external economic policies during 1986–2000; the importance of people-to-people diplomacy in socio-economic development; and the global and regional context shaping the future of megacities, including strategic foreign affairs implications for the city through to 2045. — VNS