Vietnam and France exchange financing agreements for water management project in Dien Bien
On the afternoon of September 10 at the Élysée Palace in Paris Vietnamese Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan and French Development Agency director general Christophe Lecourtier exchanged a loan agreement and a grant agreement in the presence of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and French President Emmanuel Macron
Vietnam and France are aiming to strengthen their economic and financial ties. Finance Minister Ngo Van Tuan emphasized the longstanding friendship between the two nations, noting that bilateral relations have expanded in various sectors since diplomatic ties were established in 1973. The partnership reached Strategic Partnership status in 2013 and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership status in 2024, fostering significant and deeper cooperation.
Tuan highlighted three key areas of collaboration: trade, investment, and development finance. In the first eight months of 2026, bilateral trade surpassed $5 billion, with Vietnam exporting $3.1 billion to France and importing $1.9 billion from France. France has invested $4.01 billion in Vietnam, ranking 16th globally in terms of investments, while Vietnamese investors have $39.18 million in projects in France.
France has been Vietnam's primary European donor of official development assistance (ODA) through the French Treasury Directorate General and the French Development Agency, providing over €100 million annually. Tuan also detailed Vietnam's efforts to enhance its tax system and align with international standards on transparency, requesting France's endorsement during assessments.
He suggested leveraging the Vietnam-France High-Level Economic Dialogue mechanism, set to hold its 10th meeting in early December 2026, to explore highly concessional loans, technical assistance, and technology transfer for Vietnam's infrastructure development. Minister Roland Lescure of France addressed several key cooperation projects, including the Hanoi-Nhon-Hanoi Station Urban Railway Line 3, the VNREDSat-2 satellite project, and regional railway connectivity initiatives.
France expressed readiness to assist Vietnam in EU discussions regarding tax cooperation and pledged close coordination to expedite joint project implementation. The meeting saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Vietnam's Tax Department and France's Directorate General of Public Finances, aiming to strengthen bilateral cooperation, align Vietnam's tax authority with OECD standards, and enhance professional capacity among tax officials.
The two ministers identified several priority cooperation areas, including information exchange, IT infrastructure, data platforms, AI applications in tax administration, tax inspection, and international assistance for tax debt recovery.
Written by urgent.news from Vietnam Investment Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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