Diplomacy Contributes to Driving Economic Growth

​(News Portal – Dong Nai) - In 2024, Viet Nam in general, and Dong Nai in particular, witnessed vibrant diplomatic activities aimed at fostering the nation’s economic development. Numerous agendas and international cooperation agreements were implemented and signed, contributing to enhancing Viet Nam’s global standing.

At the recent Conference on the Review of Economic Diplomacy in 2024 and the Deployment of Key Tasks for 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that for economic growth to reach the expected double-digit level, economic diplomacy must create groundbreaking achievements. 

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Businesses exploring cooperation opportunities at the Vietnam-Japan Trade Connection Conference 2024 organized by the Provincial People's Committee. 

Vibrant Economic Diplomacy Activities
According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang, 2024 witnessed an array of dynamic diplomatic activities by Vietnam. Out of nearly 60 high-level external activities undertaken by Vietnam's key leaders in 2024, economic diplomacy was a crucial component. More than 170 cooperation agreements were signed during these high-level interactions, further elevating Vietnam's diplomatic relations.

Vietnam reinvigorated traditional growth drivers by strengthening collaboration in trade, investment, tourism, and labor with major markets while also exploring new markets. Consequently, the total import-export turnover reached $800 billion, placing Vietnam among the top 30 exporting nations globally.

In 2025, Vietnam's economic diplomacy will focus on promoting the signing of free trade agreements (FTAs) to leverage competitive advantages, assessing potential partners to identify collaborative opportunities, and connecting Vietnamese businesses with international counterparts.

For Dong Nai, the province has consistently prioritized expanding international cooperation with global partners, regions, and territories over the years. To date, Dong Nai has established and signed 41 memorandums of understanding and provincial-level international cooperation agreements with 12 countries and has renewed 14 provincial-level international agreements with foreign localities and partners. Specifically, in 2024, Dong Nai signed five provincial-level international agreements and four agreements at the departmental level. The province also hosted a meeting with foreign-invested enterprises operating locally and organized four provincial-level delegations that combined investment promotion and international trade activities abroad. In 2024, Dong Nai achieved export turnover of nearly $24 billion, an increase of almost 11%. 

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A trade promotion conference in Japan, 2024. 

Creating Breakthroughs to Boost Growth
Despite significant achievements, economic diplomacy still faces limitations, such as underutilizing opportunities from elevated and upgraded relationships with partners and the lack of proportional economic cooperation with some strategic regions. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that economic diplomacy must become a core element in all external activities, particularly at high-level diplomatic engagements. In the future, the international landscape is expected to grow increasingly complex, presenting both opportunities and challenges, with challenges likely to dominate. As such, it is essential to maintain strong determination, significant effort, decisive action, and targeted focus to create breakthroughs in economic diplomacy.

To achieve the goal of reaching upper-middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2045, Vietnam's economic growth must reach 8% in 2025 and double-digit levels in the upcoming development phase. Economic diplomacy is expected to contribute significantly to achieving these objectives.​

According to the Prime Minister, economic diplomacy is a new, critical driver of growth. Therefore, it is necessary to revitalize traditional growth drivers such as exports, investment, and consumption; promote new growth drivers; focus on building global recognition for Vietnamese products and services; conduct substantive and effective trade and investment promotion; and intensify diplomatic efforts across various fields.