French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Sunday, May 25th, kicking off his week-long tour of Asia. This marks the first visit by a French leader to Vietnam in nearly a decade, signaling a further warming of the relationship between France and Vietnam.
During his visit, Macron is scheduled to visit Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore in that order, with plans to attend the annual security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore. He stated that the purpose of this trip is to enhance cooperation in key areas such as defense, innovation, energy transition, and cultural exchange.
Throughout Macron’s visit to Vietnam, France and Vietnam have signed multiple cooperation agreements covering areas including aircraft procurement, defense, energy, transportation, satellites, and vaccines. VietJet will purchase an additional 20 Airbus A330neo wide-body passenger planes, continuing from a similar aircraft purchase agreement signed between the two sides last year.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, other agreements reached by both parties also include nuclear energy cooperation, railway development, earth observation satellites, and vaccine supply cooperation with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
Following his meeting with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong in Hanoi, Macron mentioned that the Franco-Vietnamese partnership will involve enhanced defense cooperation, highlighting various defense and space cooperation projects that have been signed between the two sides. Cuong noted that their defense cooperation includes “strategic-level intelligence sharing,” and they will deepen collaboration in defense industry, cyber security, and counterterrorism.
Macron also reiterated France’s support for “freedom of navigation” in his public statements, which holds particular significance for Vietnam given its long-standing sovereignty disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
For years, the Chinese Communist Party has claimed nearly the entire South China Sea, leading to sovereignty disputes with multiple countries, including Vietnam. The ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in a case brought by the Philippines in 2016 declared China’s claim invalid, but Beijing has refused to accept the ruling.
Macron’s visit coincides with Vietnam engaging in trade negotiations with the United States. Foreign media reports have indicated that European officials have privately urged the Vietnamese government to avoid making concessions that could harm European interests in response to pressure from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Currently, Airbus is the main supplier of Vietnam Airlines with an 86% market share of the country’s civil aviation fleet. At the same time, Vietnam has signaled that Vietnam Airlines and VietJet may purchase at least 250 aircraft from Boeing, aiming to reduce the trade surplus with the U.S. and alleviate pressure from the American side.
After concluding his visit to Vietnam, Macron will proceed to Indonesia and Singapore for the next two stops on his Asian tour. He is expected to attend the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a meeting involving defense officials and experts from various countries, which is one of the most influential security forums in the Asia-Pacific region.
Macron stated that this trip aims to strengthen strategic cooperation between France and Asia. He emphasized that France and Europe will continue to defend “international cooperation and rule-based trade.”
In contrast to the “coercive” or “predatory” tactics employed by other global powers, Macron emphasized that France is a partner that can be trusted, values dialogue, and prioritizes cooperation.