Vietnam and the European Union upgraded their bilateral relations on Thursday to a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’, pledging deeper cooperation in trade, technology and security.
During a visit to Hanoi, European Council President, António Costa, met with Vietnamese President, Luong Cuong, and said they had elevated their ties to the “highest level”.
“We are elevating our relationship to the highest level, a comprehensive strategic partnership,” Costa said at a press briefing, adding that the upgrade reflects the “depth and breadth of our growing cooperation”.
“We can do much more in trade, in green energy, in development cooperation, and in security and defence,” he said.
The announcement came days after Vietnam’s Communist Party re-elected General Secretary Tô Lâm as the country’s top leader for a new term, for his growth-oriented vision.
Vietnam and the EU had signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2019, with bilateral trade growing by around 40 per cent since then. However, Hanoi’s ballooning surplus with the bloc has irritated some EU leaders, who have called for the removal of non-tariff barriers on EU products such as automobiles.
Vietnam has emerged as a regional economic powerhouse in recent decades, recording around eight per cent growth last year despite facing 20 per cent tariffs from its largest export market, the United States.
Faced with economic uncertainty due to recently-imposed tariffs by US President Donald Trump’s administration, Vietnam is seeking to diversify its markets beyond its top trading partners, including two of the world’s biggest economies, the US and China.
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Vietnamese expert Khang Vu said that in upgrading ties with the EU, Hanoi is seeking to diversify its export market beyond the United States, which has been a primary trade partner for a few decades.
“Vietnam wants to maintain an open international environment for trade, and the EU can help,” he added.
Hanoi also has comprehensive strategic partnerships with China, Russia and the United States.
The country is now seeking to develop partnerships in Asian and Western markets in order to expand its trade, knowledge and technology as it aims to secure its place in the international economy.
Vietnam has long practised what its leaders term “bamboo diplomacy”, which seeks to stay on good terms with the world’s major powers.
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