Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Hoài Trung and delegates at the plenary session 'Diplomacy serving national development in the new era', held as part of the 33rd Diplomatic Conference in Hà Nội on August 4. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng on Tuesday praised the diplomatic sector for helping lay the foundations for Việt Nam's ambitious double-digit growth target, while calling on diplomats to play a greater role in turning the country's expanding international ties into concrete development gains.

Speaking at the plenary session on 'Diplomacy serving national development in the new era' during the ongoing 33rd Diplomatic Conference in Hà Nội, the Government leader said the event comes at a pivotal moment, as Việt Nam embarks on a new stage of development and begins implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress.

Hưng said the Party Central Committee's third plenum had approved 13 major policy initiatives that would drive four strategic transformations: strengthening governance, improving the management of national development resources, shifting to a productivity- and innovation-led growth model, and enhancing national resilience and security.

These strategic priorities place diplomacy at the centre of the country's development agenda, according to the Government leader.

The PM commended the diplomatic service for its achievements in recent years, highlighting the coordinated efforts of Party, State, parliamentary and people-to-people diplomacy.

He said the foreign ministry had established a comprehensive foreign policy framework to support national development, helped preserve a peaceful and stable external environment despite mounting geopolitical uncertainty, and expanded markets while attracting investment, technology and workers needed for economic restructuring.

Hưng pointed out the steady growth in trade, investment and tourism, noting that Việt Nam has signed nearly 1,400 international agreements since the 13th National Party Congress. More than 300 new commitments have been reached since the start of 2026, while over 1,100 agreements are now being tracked through the foreign ministry's implementation monitoring system.

Despite these achievements, he warned that diplomacy would face growing challenges as strategic rivalry intensifies, global growth slows and inflationary pressures persist.

As one of the world's most open economies, Việt Nam is highly exposed to external shocks, making it essential to develop new growth drivers capable of sustaining double-digit economic expansion, according to the Prime Minister.

The PM said that development-oriented diplomacy must now focus on improving productivity, competitiveness, economic self-reliance and resilience, while aligning closely with the strategic directions set out by the 14th National Party Congress and recent Party Central Committee resolutions.

"For more than 80 years, Vietnamese diplomacy has stood on the front line at every critical moment in the nation's history," he said. "In the new era, diplomacy must not only safeguard peace, stability and national sovereignty, but also transform Việt Nam's international standing into resources that drive national development."

Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng spoke at the 33rd Diplomatic Conference in Hà Nội on August 4. — VNA/VNS Photo

Addressing the session, Foreign Minister Lê Hoài Trung reiterated General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm's directive that upgraded foreign relations must be translated into concrete action programmes, projects and measurable outcomes.

"The effectiveness of foreign relations should not be judged by the frequency of exchanges or the names of partnership frameworks, but by whether they strengthen peace and stability, safeguard national interests, expand markets, implement projects, enhance technological and workforce capacity, and ultimately benefit the people," he said.

The minister also reiterated the PM's instruction to swiftly institutionalise the foreign policy orientations adopted by the 14th National Party Congress into resolutions, action plans and concrete measures, while closely monitoring the outcomes of high-level visits and international commitments.

Trung said that diplomatic activities had increasingly focused on serving people, businesses and localities by helping identify new markets, assess partners, resolve disputes and mobilise external resources, enhancing the position of Vietnamese enterprises in global value chains.

Between 2024 and 2025, Việt Nam's overseas representative missions organised more than 1,200 trade, investment and tourism promotion activities, supported over 550 local partnership initiatives and helped facilitate the signing of around 230 cooperation agreements.

The foreign minister said development diplomacy had also made more substantive contributions to economic growth, economic security and crisis response.

Vaccine diplomacy, energy diplomacy and science and technology diplomacy mobilised resources for development while enabling research institutes, universities, Government agencies, localities and businesses to access advanced technologies.

Since the beginning of 2025, more than 150 cooperation agreements on science, technology and innovation had been signed during high-level diplomatic activities. Overseas missions also connected more than 50 domestic localities and organisations with international partners, including 12 of the world's leading technology corporations.

Despite these achievements, the minister acknowledged that further reforms were needed, particularly in converting diplomatic partnerships into concrete development projects and benefits, strengthening coordination among domestic and overseas agencies, enhancing the bridging role of overseas representative missions and improving strategic research, forecasting and policy advice.

Looking ahead, Trung outlined three key priorities for the diplomatic sector.

First, diplomacy should shift from providing support to creating development capacity, from market integration to market creation, and gradually contribute to shaping international rules, while transforming Việt Nam's growing international standing into tangible development resources.

Diplomacy should also align closely with goals in socio-economic development, science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, placing people, businesses and localities at the centre. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and overseas missions would work closely with ministries, local authorities and enterprises to identify markets, partners and technologies, and ensure international commitments are followed through to concrete results.

Finally, the ministry would continue reforming its tools, mechanisms and implementation capacity by developing a diplomatic workforce with modern economic expertise, strong market knowledge and connectivity skills. It would also strengthen mechanisms to monitor the implementation of international commitments, introduce results-based performance indicators for overseas missions and ministry units, and improve information sharing and rapid coordination with ministries, localities and businesses to resolve obstacles to carrying out the agreements.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Hoài Trung addressing the 33rd Diplomatic Conference in Hà Nội on August 4. — VNA/VNS Photo

The 33rd Diplomatic Conference is taking place from August 1 to 7 under the theme 'Promoting the pioneering role and fulfilling the core and regular tasks of Việt Nam's external affairs in the new era'. It is the first such conference held in what the Party has described as the country's 'new era' of national development and prosperity.

The conference aims to unify thinking across the diplomatic sector, promote innovative approaches and identify practical tasks and solutions that directly contribute to Việt Nam's development goals through 2030. — VNS