(Bloomberg) — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed closer cooperation on defense, transport and nuclear energy after talks with Vietnam’s leaders as he kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia aimed at shoring up alliances in the region.
In a joint briefing with Vietnam’s president in Hanoi, Macron said framework agreements were signed on several defense projects, also pledging French support for sectors including space, high-speed rail construction and civilian nuclear power. The countries pledged to “work closely to maintain and strengthen free trade and further open markets for each other,” Vietnamese President Luong Cuong said.
Among the deals inked during Macron’s visit, VietJet Aviation JSC announced it has doubled an order for Airbus SE A330 widebody aircraft to 40 planes. French and Vietnamese authorities also signed a defense equipment agreement, along with pacts on agriculture; satellite cooperation; nuclear energy and transport infrastructure.
France and its former colony are bolstering ties as US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs threaten exports from both countries. Vietnam has been in talks aimed at averting a 46% tariff on its exports to the US, while Trump has threatened to set a 50% levy on imports from France and other European Union nations.
From Vietnam, Macron will be looking to boost bilateral relations in Indonesia before traveling to Singapore to speak at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit on Friday. The three countries illustrate the density of the ties France has forged in “all sectors, including energy, transportation and defense,” the president’s Elysee office said in a briefing.
The visit comes on the heels of similar trips by the leaders of China, Spain, Japan, and other nations, as Southeast Asia moves into the spotlight amid uncertainties surrounding supply chains and global trade.
Vietnam and France upgraded relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in a visit to Paris by Communist Party General Secretary To Lam. During that trip in October, the leaders discussed boosting security and defense cooperation and working more closely in areas such as aerospace, transport infrastructure and renewable energy.
As Europe calibrates its priorities amid US tariff uncertainty, Macron said France aims to deepen economic ties with regional superpower China, after a call with President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
“Chinese investment is welcome in France,” Macron said in a post on X. “But our companies must benefit from fair competition in our two countries.”
In addition to the business deals, Macron has been urged to raise human rights issues while in Vietnam and press for the release of dozens of civil society activists.
“The Vietnamese government’s broad and intense crackdown on freedom of speech and assembly is the opposite of what it pledged to France and the EU,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities have jailed an increasing number of democracy advocates and dissidents and are resisting reforms,” she said.
Macron is also set to visit the University of Science and Technology in Hanoi on Tuesday, to deliver a speech about the future of France’s relationship with Vietnam.
–With assistance from Linh Vu Nguyen and Madeleine Lim.
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