Secretary-General and President To Lam chaired the conference and delivered an opening speech.
During la conférence, Vu Dai Thang, member of the Party Central Committee, deputy secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee and chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, delivered a lecture on the theme “Guidance for Upgrading Local Foreign Relations by 2030, seen through the practical experience of the capital Hanoi.”
Many important foreign policy achievements.
Comrade Vu Dai Thang said that the 14th National Party Congress found that our country is at a historic turning point, entering a new era of development with the ambition of building a strong and prosperous Vietnam. Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW of the Political Bureau concretizes an independent, autonomous, peaceful, cooperative and development-oriented foreign policy; it sets out the need for more proactive, positive, comprehensive, deep and effective international integration.
At the same time, Politburo Resolution No. 02-NQ/TW dated March 17, 2026 on the construction and development of Hanoi in the new era identified Hanoi as the national political and administrative center; a place where the cultural values, intellect and resources of the country converge, crystallize and diffuse; and a center of regional connectivity, a hub of growth and an important driving force for national development.
“These strategic guidelines create an important political and legal basis, and at the same time impose new demands on the foreign policy work of the capital: it must be raised to a new level in terms of thinking, quality, efficiency and influence “, underlined comrade Vu Dai Thang.
In more than thirty years of reforms and international integration, Hanoi has achieved important results in foreign policy. The city has established official cooperative relations with 58 capitals, cities and towns around the world; it has been able to preserve its traditional relationships while developing its cooperation with numerous strategic and potential partners.
Currently, 117 countries and territories have investment projects in Hanoi; by 2025, the city aims to attract $4.29 billion in foreign direct investment, which would place it among the most attractive destinations in the country. Hanoi is also an active and engaged member of many prestigious international cooperation networks, such as the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the UNESCO Global Learning Cities Network.
Comrade Vu Dai Thang pointed out that, from practical implementation, the Hanoi City Party Committee had learned important lessons: action in foreign policy is truly effective only when it is closely linked to the demands of the socio-economic development; when it takes advantage of the combined strength of Party diplomacy, state diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy and when it has a team of cadres with sufficient political sense, professional skills and professional behavior;
Alongside its successes, and in a proactive and responsible spirit, the city recognizes that its foreign policy still has certain limits that need to be corrected. In certain areas, thinking in terms of foreign policy has not been able to adapt to the new demands of development; the effective exploitation of international cooperation frameworks has not been up to the potential and assets of the capital; and coordination and linking of international resources remains uneven in some sectors.
At the same time, the resolution of the 18th Congress of the City Party Committee set very ambitious objectives for the period 2026-2030: average regional GDP growth of more than 11% per year; a regional GDP per capita of at least USD 12,000; a digital economy representing at least 40% of regional GDP; a contribution of the cultural industry of around 9% of regional GDP; and an urbanization rate reaching 65 to 70%.
To achieve these goals, foreign affairs must truly become one of the key drivers of development, helping to expand development space, effectively mobilize external resources and absorb advanced knowledge and technology to serve the rapid and sustainable development of the capital.
Hanoi is focusing its efforts on the implementation of five key working groups.
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Deeply understanding the spirit of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW, Hanoi decided to radically change its foreign policy, moving from an approach of “reception and adaptation” to an approach of “active contribution, creation and implementation of development”; and to promote the pioneering role of foreign affairs in mobilizing international resources to serve the strategic development objectives of the capital.
Accordingly, Hanoi will focus its efforts on implementing the following five key tasks:
First it is essential to guarantee a centralized and unified leadership of the Party in matters of foreign policy. In this regard, all foreign policy activities of the city must be placed under the direct and comprehensive authority of the Party, in strict accordance with the foreign policy guidelines of the 14th Party Congress and the resolutions of the Politburo on international integration.
Party committees, organizations, agencies and units should proactively translate the directives of the Central Committee and the City Party Committee into targeted and precise programs and action plans; clearly assign responsibilities, establish precise deadlines and guarantee results; and simultaneously establish effective cross-sector coordination mechanisms to ensure uniformity and consistency in the implementation of work relating to foreign affairs throughout the city.
Second, economic diplomacy and scientific and technological diplomacy must be the engine of exponential growth and a transformation of the development model. More specifically, external relations must directly serve the objective of rapid and sustainable growth for the capital. Economic diplomacy activities need to be fundamentally reformed to actively seek, connect with and attract high-quality development resources from abroad.
Hanoi will focus on promoting investments from major global technology companies, international financial institutions, multilateral and bilateral investment funds, innovation centers and world-renowned universities and research institutes; while establishing long-term cooperation mechanisms with a network of overseas Vietnamese experts, intellectuals and scientists, as well as international scientists, to directly serve the capital’s development goals.
The city will proactively establish regular networking platforms between government, business, academia and international organizations; it will create thematic cooperation forums on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital technologies, biotechnologies, green energy transition and innovation; thus making Hanoi an attractive destination for global investment, knowledge and technology.
Foreign relations in the field of science and technology should actively engage in promoting cooperation in research and technology transfer, attracting international talents, and seeking advanced solutions to effectively address the challenges of Hanoi’s urban development, such as traffic, environment, climate change and improving the quality of life of its population.
Third, we must take advantage of the power of cultural influence, affirm the identity and strengthen the international influence of the capital. The resolution of the 18th Congress of the Hanoi City Party Committee recognizes culture as one of the pillars of Hanoi’s sustainable development. Foreign policy must contribute to widely promoting the unique values of Thang Long – Hanoi, a city with a thousand-year-old cultural heritage, and to promoting the principles of “Culture – Identity – Creativity” within the framework of international integration.
Promote the application of digital technologies in the field of external information; continue to develop and disseminate Hanoi’s image as a “City of Peace”, “Creative City” and “Global City of Learning”, while asserting its position as a regional center of international cultural exchange.
External relations must also create favorable conditions for the significant development of the cultural industry, the expansion of international markets for creative cultural products, the attraction of international investments and resources and the contribution to the objective that the cultural industry contributes approximately 9% to regional GDP by 2030.
Fourthly, shape the capital’s external relations in close collaboration with national foreign policy, promoting the pioneering role of urban diplomacy. Hanoi recently had the honor of hosting the meeting of ASEAN city leaders. This event not only confirmed the growing prestige and position of the capital within the regional cooperation network, but also demonstrated Hanoi’s increasingly proactive role in developing cooperation initiatives among ASEAN cities in matters of sustainable development, digital transformation, innovation and improvement of urban governance.
This concrete experience demonstrates that the capital’s foreign policy not only serves Hanoi’s development needs, but also contributes to effectively realizing and supporting the foreign policy of the Party and the state. As the political and administrative center of the country, all of Hanoi’s foreign policy activities must be closely linked to national interests, while contributing to enhancing Vietnam’s image, prestige and international influence.
Hanoi will continue to improve the effectiveness of its coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other central ministries and agencies; to concretely implement the Regulations on Coordination between the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Party Committee of Hanoi City for the period 2026-2030; to actively participate in cooperation mechanisms regional and international; to promote the role of urban diplomacy and gradually transform Hanoi into an influential international connectivity center in Southeast Asia.
Fifth, there is a need to actively innovate people-to-people diplomacy and improve the quality of diplomatic personnel. In this regard, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Hanoi and other political and social organizations will play an essential role in implementing concrete, effective and sustainable people-to-people diplomacy activities; strengthening exchanges and ties between Hanoi people and their international partners; and the contribution to building an image of Hanoi as a welcoming, civilized, elegant and integrated city.
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![[Photo] Tran Cam Tu, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Central Committee, receives the vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/192x108/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/09/1780997164446_ndo_br_bnd-4403-jpg.webp)
“The determining factor in the quality and efficiency of work in foreign policy is personnel. The city will endeavor to build a team of diplomats with keen political acumen, a modern vision of integration, mastery of foreign languages, recognized expertise in their field and in-depth knowledge of international law and practices; “The aim is to gradually form a team of foreign policy experts to meet the development needs of the capital for the new era,” said Comrade Vu Dai Thang.
Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Vu Dai Thang affirmed that strengthening local foreign relations, in line with the spirit of the 14th National Party Congress and Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW, is not only a requirement of the process of international integration, but also a strategic task aimed at expanding the development space, strengthening competitiveness and asserting the country’s position in the new stage of its development.
For Hanoi, this is both a particular political responsibility and an opportunity for the capital to play a pioneering and leading role in the country’s overall international integration.
Hanoi aspires to become, by 2030, not only the national political and administrative center, but also a leading international connectivity hub, an innovation center and a center of urban diplomacy in Southeast Asia; a focal point for international flows of knowledge, technology, investment and culture.
With a centuries-old cultural tradition, a spirit of unity, discipline, responsibility, creativity and development, and driven by deep faith in the leadership of the Party and the strategic directions defined at the 14th Party Congress, the Party Committee, the government and The people of Hanoi are convinced that the city’s foreign policy will progress considerably by 2030, becoming a real engine of growth, strengthening the international influence of the capital and concretely contributing to the development of the country.
Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Vu Dai Thang stressed that Hanoi also wishes to continue to share and exchange experiences with localities across the country, so as to jointly create a comprehensive and modern force for Vietnam’s foreign policy, deeply rooted in the identity of “Vietnamese bamboo”, thus contributing to the achievement of the country’s strategic objectives in the era of national progress.
Source : https://hanoimoi.vn/dinh-huong-nang-tam-doi-ngoai-dia-phuong-den-nam-2030-nhin-tu-thuc-tien-thu-do-ha-noi-1159964.html
