‘Bamboo diplomacy’ helps Vietnam harvest foreign relation fruits in 2023

On the occasion of Lunar New Year 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son talks with The Investor about Vietnam's foreign policy milestones in 2023, the role of economic diplomacy and the orientation of “Vietnamese bamboo” diplomacy in the time ahead.

Could you please assess Vietnam's most outstanding and meaningful diplomatic milestones in 2023?

2023 has been an exciting year of foreign affairs with lots of outstanding achievements. First of all, foreign relations at bilateral and multilateral levels continued to be expanded and deepened. Relations with many important partners have been lifted to new heights with new qualitative developments, notably relations with neighboring countries, China, the U.S., Japan and many other partners.

Foreign affairs activities, especially those involving Vietnamese leaders, were vibrant across continents and at many important multilateral forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, the Greater Mekong Subregion, APEC, AIPA, COP28, and BRI, among others. In 2023, we successfully organized 22 overseas trips of key leaders and 28 visits by high-ranking foreign leaders to Vietnam, affirming the new stature and position of Vietnam in the world.

In addition, research, advisory and forecasting work on foreign affairs achieved many important results. In the face of complicated developments of the international context, the foreign affairs sector, along with other branches and levels, has advised the Politburo, the Party Central Committee's Secretariat and the government through many important foreign affairs projects, especially projects on developing relations with a number of important partners, cooperating with ASEAN and the Greater Mekong Subregion, and dealing with other countries' initiatives.

Economic diplomacy continued to be bolstered, making an important contribution to promoting economic growth, boosting external trade in 2023 to nearly $700 billion, and an increase of 32% in registered FDI capital, while opening access to many new high-quality capital sources in a challenging world economic context.

We have helped maintain a peaceful and stable environment for the country's development. The fields of external information service, cultural diplomacy, caring of overseas Vietnamese, and citizen protection also achieved many important results.

Could you share the factors that led to the above successes?

The above-mentioned results were made possible, first of all, thanks to the right leadership of the Party and the centralized and effective management of the State; unity, high determination and great efforts of the entire political system; close and smooth coordination between Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and People's diplomacy; and between foreign affairs and defense, security, economy, culture and social affairs.

Under the leadership and close direction of the Politburo, Secretariat and Government, the foreign affairs sector has closely followed the foreign policy of the Party and State, promoting the identity of "Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy", and closely monitoring developments in the world and region following the motto "he who sees through life and death will meet with most success."

We have also been flexible and creative in strategy, handling foreign affairs following "firm in objectives, flexible in strategies and tactics". Based on that, we have taken appropriate measures, taking advantage of opportunities and neutralizing challenges to successfully complete foreign affairs tasks.

Based on the results achieved, could you please share the main tasks and orientations of Vietnamese diplomatic sector in 2024?

Based on the foreign policy set at the 13th National Congress and policies issued by the Party Central Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat since the beginning of the current term, and in the spirit of Vietnam’s "bamboo diplomacy”, the diplomatic sector has set the following main tasks:

First, to continue to promote innovative thinking on foreign affairs. We need to think outside the box and find ways to innovate for the benefit of the nation and people. For that, it is necessary to promote the organization and implementation of research, advisory, and strategic forecasting on foreign affairs; sensitively detect new issues, accurately identify opportunities, correctly identify the country's strategic position and take advantage of international trends to proactively form appropriate foreign diplomacy policies and actions.

Second, to promote the pioneering role as well as coordinate closely with Party diplomacy, People's diplomacy, and other forces to synchronously deploy foreign affairs to firmly safeguard the peaceful and stabile environment, defend the Fatherland early and from afar; effectively mobilize new external resources for socio-economic development, and enhance the country's position and prestige.

The focus is on effectively promoting the relationships that have been upgraded in the past year, implementing cooperative agreements that have been reached, and continuing to deepen and elevate relationships with partners with an aim to expand markets, attract high-quality investment, transfer new technology, and create new development space for the country, localities, businesses and people.

Third, to focus on creating a new step in building and nurturing a strong, comprehensive, and modern diplomatic sector.

You have mentioned “Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy”. Could you please explain what this means?

Addressing the 29th Diplomatic Conference in 2016, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for the first time mentioned “Vietnam’s bamboo diplomacy”. At the National Foreign Affairs Conference in December 2021, he outlined the basic connotations of foreign affairs and diplomacy characterized by the identity of “Vietnamese bamboo”.

This is a supreme generalization of the core and transverse content of the foreign policy of our Party and State as well as the unique identity of Vietnam's revolutionary diplomacy, which has been built and developed by inheriting and creatively applying President Ho Chi Minh's ideology, style, and diplomatic art, and our nation's cultural and diplomatic identity that has endured throughout our millennia-long history of building and defending the country.

The image of “Vietnamese bamboo” reflects vividly, yet simply and understandably, the core and transverse contents of our Party's foreign policy as well as the unique identity of Vietnam's revolutionary diplomacy.

On breaking down, the firm root is the principle of serving the benefit of the nation and people, an independent and self-reliant foreign policy, making internal strength the base while capitalizing on multilateralism, diversification of foreign relations, and deep and extensive international integration to create our own position.

The strong body [of the bamboo] is the way to create strength, with the strength of great national unity being the basic and vital factor. It also entails combining national strength with international strength; upholding the principles of justice, humanity, fidelity, and rule of law.

Flexible branches embrace the style and art of flexible behavior based on the principle of “firm in objectives, flexible in strategies and tactics”, and flexible adaptation to the context to make the right move at the right time.

Can you talk about the main results and contributions of economic diplomacy to the country's socio-economic development in 2023? What are the key tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue this work in 2024?

Implementing the policy of “building economic diplomacy to serve development, putting people, localities and businesses as the center”, economic diplomacy has been deployed synchronously, making an important contribution to the country's socio-economic development.

In the first place, economic diplomacy has been widely deployed in foreign affairs activities, especially in high-ranking exchanges, in tandem with political and cultural diplomacy and other facets of diplomacy. Economic cooperation is always at the center of relationships, particularly with important partners. The upgrading of relations between Vietnam with other countries in the past year has created a breakthrough in economic cooperation with them, opening up many opportunities for Vietnamese localities and businesses.

Vietnam’s international economic integration has become more proactive, positive and effective. In addition to effectively implementing the already signed free trade agreements (FTAs), we signed an FTA with Israel in 2023 and are actively negotiating FTAs with other partners; signed over 70 cooperation documents at ministerial level and nearly 100 cooperative agreements at local level, and hundreds of agreements between businesses. As a result, economic diplomacy has contributed to promoting economic growth, exports, and FDI attraction.

As 2024 has kicked in, the world economy still faces many difficulties and risks. Besides opportunities, there are also challenges. Following up the Party's policies and orientations on economic diplomacy, the 2024 Socio-Economic Development Plan, and in dependence of international and domestic evolutions, executors of economic diplomacy will continue to make use of the country's new position and strength, and materialize the newly upgraded relationships and turn them into practical and effective economic cooperation programs and projects with the aim of expanding markets and accessing new capital sources for infrastructure development, high technology, digital transformation, green growth, tourism, and skilled labor exports.