Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam attended the opening session of the 19th Francophonie Summit in France on Friday noon (local time) after joining the FrancoTech 2024, a business forum for innovation.

The Vietnamese leader arrived in Paris on Thursday to attend the summit and pay an official visit to France from October 3 to 7, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Lam and other delegations from nearly 100 countries and territories were received by the French leader and Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo at an official welcome ceremony at the Villers-Cotterêts castle, about 80 kilometers from Paris.

In his opening speech at the summit, themed ‘Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in French,’ President Macron emphasized the special bond between countries that use French and suggested that the Francophone community continue promoting cooperation to make French a language of culture, trade and innovation, the Vietnam News Agency reported. 

He highlighted the Francophone community’s fundamental values including solidarity, sharing, recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity, respect for countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promotion of peace and prosperity.

Mushikiwabo told the summit that the OIF will continue reforming to come up with rapid changes of the current era, focusing on digital transformation, sustainable development, support for programs for women and youth, promotion of French teaching and learning, and entrepreneurship in French. 

The OIF currently has 88 member and observer countries, with a total population of about 1.2 billion people, accounting for 16 percent of the world’s GDP and 20 percent of global trade.

The Vietnamese leader is expected to deliver a key speech at the summit on Saturday.

He will also meet and discuss with senior leaders from various countries and international organizations to promote cooperative relations between them and Vietnam. 

Earlier on Friday morning, Lam attended and delivered a speech at the FrancoTech 2024, a business forum for innovation, in Paris. 

Highly valuing the five topics of the forum, including artificial intelligence (AI), energy transition, human capital, food security and innovation, Lam expressed his belief that the event would create opportunities to further connect Francophone businesses.

He shared that Vietnam has adopted many policies to promote creative innovation, spread the spirit of entrepreneurship, and create the most favorable conditions for businesses to operate and develop.

The growth of businesses and the application of science and technology in business activities have significantly contributed to Vietnam's development achievements in recent years, the head of the Party and State of Vietnam commented.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam speaks at the FrancoTech 2024, a business forum for innovation, in Paris, France, on October 4, 2024. Photo: Nguyen Hong / Tuoi Tre

From a backward economy, Vietnam has risen to rank among the leading 40 economies and the top 20 economies with the largest trade turnover in the world, and become a party to 16 free trade agreements with its partners in the world, Lam told the forum.

He underscored that “science, technology and innovation are Vietnam’s indispensable choice in its journey to a new era, the era of the nation's rise.” 

Vietnam wishes to cooperate more closely with its partners, including France and other Francophone countries, to develop key industries with great potential such as information technology, AI, semiconductor and green hydrogen energy.

The Vietnamese leader called on businesses in the Francophone community to continue to engage in trade and investment activities in Vietnam.

He affirmed that Vietnam is creating an increasingly favorable investment and business environment and adopting many attractive preferential policies to help Francophone enterprises thrive and develop into large corporations of international stature.

On this occasion, Lam witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries of Benin and the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Within the framework of the FrancoTech 2024, the Vietnamese leader visited exhibition booths of enterprises from various countries, including those of Vietnamese enterprises such as tech giant FPT, electric vehicle maker VinFast, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, and budget airline Vietjet.

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