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Party General Secretary To Lam (right) receives US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre in Hanoi on February 13. (Photo: VNA)

Party chief receives US Assistant Secretary of State

Party General Secretary To Lam received visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre in Hanoi on February 13.

DeSombre conveyed congratulations from US President Donald Trump to General Secretary Lam on his re-election as the leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and on the successful organisation of the 14th National Party Congress.

General Secretary Lam said the 14th National Party Congress concluded successfully, marking a milestone that opens a new phase of development for Vietnam. He also extended his deep thanks to President Trump for his congratulatory message on the success of the congress.

Welcoming the visit by the US Assistant Secretary of State, the Party leader commended the role of the US Department of State in promoting the positive momentum of Vietnam – US relations in recent years.

He affirmed that Vietnam consistently regards the US as one of its leading important partners and stands ready to further deepen comprehensive cooperation across fields for the benefit of the two countries' people, while contributing positively to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.

General Secretary Lam reaffirmed that Vietnam will continue to pursue a consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, acting as a responsible member of the international community and an active contributor to regional and global issues.

DeSombre said President Trump highly values General Secretary Lam’s decision to participate in the Gaza Peace Council initiative.

He affirmed that the US attaches great importance to its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam, supports a strong, independent and prosperous Vietnam, and wishes to enhance strategic-level cooperation with the country both bilaterally and on regional and international matters.

The US official showed his satisfaction with the outcomes of his meetings with Vietnamese ministries and agencies during the visit, affirming his commitment to continuing efforts to promote substantive and effective development of Vietnam – US relations in the time ahead.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks at his meeting with 200 policy beneficiary families, poor households and those facing particularly difficult circumstances in Thanh Xuan commune, Can Tho city, on February 13. (Photo: VNA)

NA Chairman presents Tet gifts to policy beneficiary, disadvantaged families in Can Tho

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his delegation visited and extended Lunar New Year (Tet) greetings to 200 policy beneficiary families, poor households and those facing particularly difficult circumstances in Thanh Xuan commune, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, on February 13.

Each gift package presented at the event was valued at 2 million VND (77 USD).

At the meeting, Chairman Man provided a brief overview of the country’s socio-economic situation in 2025. Despite numerous difficulties and challenges, including complicated natural disasters, Vietnam achieved many positive results thanks to the concerted efforts by the entire political system and the people.

He asked leaders of Can Tho and Thanh Xuan to focus on communications about the election of deputies to the 16th NA and People’s Councils at all levels for the 2026–2031 term, and expressed his hope that local residents will directly cast their ballots to select worthy representatives to serve the Party, the State and the people.

The top legislator also told Thanh Xuan to invest more efforts in socio-economic development by identifying local strengths, attracting investment and working with the city to facilitate development projects.

He further requested that commune leaders prepare for post-Tet military recruitment, continue strengthening Party-building efforts, pay close attention to the material and spiritual well-being of residents, and upgrade infrastructure to support trade and economic growth.

Through the Chairman Man’s mobilisation efforts, the Vietnam Lottery Company pledged financial support of 2 billion VND to the commune for the construction of a rural road in its Xang Moi A hamlet.

General Luong Tam Quang, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, receives US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre in Hanoi on February 13. Photo: VNA

Vietnam, US enhance security, law enforcement cooperation

General Luong Tam Quang, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, received US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre in Hanoi on February 13.

At the meeting, Minister Quang emphasised that the meeting took place at a particularly meaningful time, as Vietnam had just successfully organised the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Regarding Vietnam–US relations, he noted that after 30 years of normalisation of relations and more than two years of implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, bilateral ties have developed remarkably. The two countries have become a typical model in international relations in overcoming the past and building a future of cooperation and friendship based on shared interests, mutual trust and respect.

In terms of specialised cooperation, collaboration between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) and US security and law enforcement partners has expanded strongly in both width and depth. In September 2025, the MoPS and the US Department of State co-chaired the second Security and Law Enforcement Dialogue in the US. The two sides discussed many practical issues, including drug prevention and control, combating human trafficking, illegal immigration, cybersecurity cooperation, and online fraud prevention.

Looking ahead, in order to further advance bilateral relations and specialised cooperation, Minister Quang proposed that Michael DeSombre give advice on implementing the Vietnam–US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a more substantive manner. The MoPS also expressed its hope that the two countries would soon conclude negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement with positive outcomes, he said.

The ministry stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the US in combating transnational crime, said Quang, proposing security and law enforcement agencies of both countries continue to coordinate closely, enhance information sharing, and jointly address crimes of mutual concern.

In response, Michael DeSombre affirmed that he would continue to promote Vietnam–US bilateral relations and specialised cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and US security and law enforcement partners to a new height, contributing practically to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, security, and prosperity.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang (Photo published by VNA)

Economic diplomacy 2025: Turning the tide, unlocking resources, shaping new development space

The insights were shared by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang while talking to the press on this breakthrough journey.

According to her, in 2025, the world continued to experience rapid, profound, and unpredictable changes. Global economic growth slowed, instability risks increased, strategic competition intensified, and tariff policies and trade protectionism expanded. The restructuring of supply chains and value chains, along with fragmentation trends in trade, technology, and green and digital development standards, became increasingly evident. Domestically, unprecedented natural disasters and floods caused severe damage, making development challenges demand stronger governance capacity and adaptability than ever before.

In that context, Hang said that economic diplomacy closely followed the leadership of the Party, the State, and the Government, and was implemented in a synchronised, methodical, and decisive manner – both in breadth and depth – achieving many important results described by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the conference reviewing economic diplomacy in 2025 on January 10, 2026 as a process of “transforming the state of play and turning the tide.”

Last year, economic diplomacy maintained proactive positioning amid volatility, generated momentum amid difficulties, and laid the groundwork for breakthroughs, she said, adding it contributed effectively to growth objectives, strengthened confidence, and expanded development space.

“Economic diplomacy shifted its mindset from accompanying growth to pioneering the creation of development opportunities, generating strategic space, mobilising resources, and laying the foundation for deeper integration into global value chains,” she held.

The most notable imprint, Hang noted, was the elevation of Viet Nam’s strategic position, creating political and diplomatic leverage and opening up new cooperation opportunities.

Over the past year, 75 foreign activities by key leaders were carried out, relations with 17 countries were upgraded, and a record 350 cooperation agreements were signed – 2.5 times higher than in 2024, focusing on economic, trade, investment, science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

These were not merely documents, but the establishment of unprecedented favourable political-economic space with leading partners, providing a critical basis for attracting high-quality investment, expanding sustainable markets, improving access to and ownership of technology, and enhancing the economy’s capacity and competitiveness.

Second, she said economic diplomacy contributed breakthroughs to strengthening domestic economic capacity. In 2025, Viet Nam officially entered the group of the world’s 15 largest trading nations, with total import-export turnover exceeding 930 billion USD.

Diplomacy played a “path-opening” role in enabling key agricultural exports such as durian, edible bird’s nest, and passion fruit to penetrate deeply into the Chinese market; addressing tariff issues with the United States; placing Viet Nam in a priority group for negotiating fair trade agreements; expanding into promising new markets such as Latin America, the Middle East – Africa, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Halal markets. It also advocated for the opening of numerous new international direct air routes despite complex geopolitical conditions, contributing to a record 21.5 million international tourist arrivals, the highest ever.

Third, an important “state transformation” highlight was science and technology diplomacy, promoted across multiple dimensions from policy formulation and framework establishment to business and investment connectivity both domestically and internationally, multilateral cooperation enhancement, and mobilisation of knowledge networks. This contributed to building 11 strategic technology groups and substantively implementing Politburo Resolution 57.

According to the Deputy FM, economic and science-technology content became central to foreign affairs activities, especially high-level diplomacy, generating strong momentum for Viet Nam’s economic, trade, and technological relations with partners. As a result, Viet Nam has gradually forged strategic linkages in future-oriented technology sectors.

The establishment of AI and semiconductor R&D centres in Viet Nam by corporations such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Samsung; Dassault Systèmes launching its R&D Centre and Centre of Excellence for digital twin and AI; ASML considering opening a representative office and committing to support semiconductor training and development; and Viettel commencing construction of Viet Nam’s first high-tech semiconductor chip manufacturing plant – all demonstrate recognition of Viet Nam’s potential and new standing in the global value chain, she stressed.

Institutionally and strategically, Hang stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an Action Plan for science and technology diplomacy through 2030 and is submitting to the Government a strategy for international cooperation on strategic technologies to 2030, with a vision to 2045. The overarching spirit is to make science, technology, and innovation diplomacy a priority pillar of foreign affairs in service of development.

She said that economic diplomacy has become more substantive in supporting and connecting localities and businesses. Efforts to promote the Vietnamese brand have seen clear progress. In 2025, Viet Nam’s overseas representative missions organised nearly 500 trade, investment, and tourism promotion activities; supported localities in hosting over 150 events; and facilitated the signing of around 100 cooperation agreements between localities and international partners.

Diplomacy has accompanied local authorities and enterprises in removing bottlenecks, opening access channels, and bringing Vietnamese goods, brands, and products closer to key and emerging markets, she added.

Predicting some major international trends in 2026, Hang pointed out growth slowdown, potential instability triggered by conflicts, tariff policies, policy adjustments by various countries, and competition for resources, markets, technology, and high-quality human resources. She also mentioned rapid technological innovation and the trend of technological decoupling, which concurrently facilitate accelerated development and make it difficult for countries to access advanced technologies, posing a significant risk of lagging behind.

Globalisation and international integration continue, but protectionism, fragmentation, clustering, and inequality are growing while geoeconomic and political competition becomes increasingly fierce, especially in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia, heaping pressure on small and medium-sized countries. Besides, traditional and non-traditional security issues have an increasingly profound impact on the security and development of many countries, she noted.

The official described 2026 as a strategically significant year for Viet Nam as it marks the first year of implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress and the 2026–2030 socio-economic development plan, initially establishing a long-term development model and growth trajectory for the country on the path towards the two strategic centenary goals.

The Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress states that foreign affairs and international integration must play a pioneering and creative role and, alongside national defence and security safeguarding, serve as a "key and regular" task. It says a comprehensive foreign affairs strategy must be strongly implemented at a new level, contributing to the world economy, global politics, and human civilisation.

The new context, new potential, and new expectations present new tasks and requirements, demanding that economic diplomacy or, more broadly, foreign affairs serving development must constantly reform thinking, be sharp and decisive in implementation, be creative and groundbreaking in approach, and remain consistent with the principle of placing national interests first and above all else, with businesses and people at the centre of service.

Given this, Hang said, the guiding principle for economic diplomacy in 2026 is to create new development spaces; connect strategic resources and verify them through implementation effectiveness; resolutely accelerate the realisation of the Party’s new viewpoints and guidelines and the State’s policies, especially the orientations set at the 14th National Party Congress and the resolutions of the Party, National Assembly and Government, the Politburo’s Resolution No. 59, and the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 250 on international integration; and transform strategic orientations into concrete, substantive, and measurable results.

Highlighting five priorities of economic diplomacy in 2026 and the following years, she said that first, new growth drivers will be promoted, with science – technology diplomacy, semiconductor diplomacy, and digital economy diplomacy as central and breakthrough drivers of economic diplomacy in the new era. Vietnamese businesses’ capabilities of researching, accessing, and mastering technology will be enhanced while support given to the formation of R&D clusters, innovation centres, high-tech human resources training cooperation programmes, and digital ecosystem connectivity.

Vietnamese technology companies will also receive assistance in expanding to foreign markets, seeking opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, and connecting with multinationals, especially large technology corporations worldwide. Efforts will also be made to attract overseas Vietnamese scientists.

Second, the Deputy Minister went on, breakthroughs will be made in expanding markets and supply chains with potential partners in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. At the same time, cooperation with major and traditional partners will be consolidated and expanded, and new cooperation frameworks leveraged to broaden development opportunities.

Vietnamese-branded products will be further promoted and marketed abroad. Negotiations on free trade agreements (FTA) with Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, African countries such as Egypt and Algeria, and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are set to gain speed, and the signing of an FTA with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) expedited.

Third, priority will be given to supporting localities and businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to enhance the effectiveness of international economic integration and leverage commitments. Businesses will be helped to expand investment and operations in international markets and participate more deeply in global value chains. The potential, strengths, and new development spaces of localities will be maximised following the launch of the two-tiered local administrative system, according to Hang.

Fourth, the quality and practicality of research will be further improved to stay connected with real-life situations and promptly propose "accurate" and "correct" policies, simultaneously creating strategic space and promoting the pillars of domestic development.

Fifth, she added, Viet Nam will strengthen and elevate multilateral diplomacy and international economic integration, proactively engage in the shaping of new rules and norms and, at the same time, prepare well to chair important multilateral mechanisms, with high priority given to completing all-round preparations for APEC Year 2027.

The Deputy Minister said that 2026 will be the year when economic diplomacy shifts sharply from "paving the way" to "facilitating development", from "connecting opportunities" to "connecting strategic resources", and from "making commitments" to "verifying effectiveness".

She underlined the network of 17 free trade agreements and diplomatic relations with 194 countries, including comprehensive or higher-level partnerships with 42 countries, 17 of which are G20 members, and comprehensive strategic partnerships with all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

However, she perceived that this foundation is only meaningful when it is transformed into concrete values, high-quality investment projects, sustainable export markets, technology and knowledge to support innovation, secure supply chains, enhance Vietnamese businesses’ competitiveness, and improve the country’s stature in the region and the world.

The official expressed her belief that with the attention, leadership, and guidance from the Party, State, and Government, together with solidarity, concerted efforts, the determination to innovate and the strong involvement of the entire political system, economic diplomacy in 2026 will create new impetus for Viet Nam to accelerate, break through, and advance quickly, strongly, and steadily in the era of the nation’s rise, contributing to the realisation of the aspiration for a strong and prosperous Viet Nam.

Vietnam deepens participation in global organic agricultural value chain

The Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA) organised a Vietnam pavilion featuring seven leading organic enterprises at the world’s premier trade fair for organic food Biofach 2026, held from February 11 to 13 in Nürnberg, Germany.

The participation formed part of the national trade promotion programme of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Vietnamese business delegation included familiar participants that have attended Biofach for many years, such as Vinasamex, Hiep Thanh, FNB, Long Son and Hanfimex, alongside a newcomer, Sen Capital. The companies showcased a wide range of products, including cashew kernels and roasted cashews, pepper, cinnamon, star anise, tea, spices, essential oils and organic cleaning products.

Pham Minh Duc, a member of the VOAA Party Committee’s standing board, said this marked the ninth time the association had organised Vietnamese enterprises’ participation in Biofach, noting that the German organic agriculture fair is the largest and most prestigious of its kind in the world. Europe’s organic standards are widely regarded as among the most rigorous; and the fact that enterprises obtain European certification, participate in the fair and gain access to European customers demonstrates that Vietnamese organic products are capable of entering most global markets.

He added that Vietnamese organic firms attending the fair have so far shown encouraging progress. Instead of primarily exporting raw materials as in the past, many are now developing their own brands and investing in deeper processing.

During the fair, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Germany Dang Thi Thanh Phuong, together with Duc, held discussions with Thomas Derstadt, head of the spice procurement section at the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) under Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). They exchanged views on ways to make Vietnam a partner country of the IPD and an important channel for helping Vietnamese exports reach a broad customer base in Germany.

Biofach 2026 attracted around 35,000 trade visitors and more than 2,200 exhibitors from nearly 90 countries, presenting a diverse range of organic food products across the entire value chain, from advanced agricultural production to retail and consumption.

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