How Viet Nam engages volatile world

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, competition among major powers, and geopolitical crisis, Viet Nam responded timely and effectively handled negative impacts, and gradually transformed challenges into cooperation opportunities, noted former Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh.

Viet Nam could still manage to sustain stable relations with all major powers and supply chains in a relatively sustainable manner, thus helping the Southeast Asian nation maintain strategic autonomy even in the hardest times, he said.

Since 2021, Viet Nam has continued to expand and upgrade relations with major countries, raising the total number of comprehesive strategic, strategic and comprehensive partnership frameworks to 40, including all five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The above result illustrates Viet Nam’s active efforts and international friends’ recognition of Viet Nam’s consistent pursuance of its justice-based foreign policy.

The consistent pursuance of the foreign policy of indepedence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization of external relations has created a firm foundation for cultivating strategic trust between Viet Nam and the international community, and for strengthening Viet Nam’s role and position in the region and the world.

Viet Nam has been seen as an important link in ASEAN, APEC and cooperation architecture in the Asia-Pacific region while being appreciated for responsible countributions to multilateral forums, from the United Nations, the United Nations Human Rights Council to peacekeeping operations and global initiatives, including the opening ceremony of the signing of the UN Convention against Cybercrime.

More importantly, the international community sees Viet Nam as a reliable partner with win-win cooperation opportunities, improving business environment, and fresh development drivers. This explains why many countries proactively wish to deepen and elevate relations with Viet Nam.

Economic diplomacy has become an important pillar underpinning growth as it helps Viet Nam to mobilize external resources and attract foreign investment flows.

Viet Nam has fruitfully utilized the network of 17 free trade agreements, including new-generation deals like CPTPP, EVFTA, and RCEP, enabling the country to maintain and expand markets amid global supply chain disruptions.

Simultaneously, Viet Nam has proactively broadened cooperation space to the Latin America, the Middle East and Africa while consolidating and deepening cooperation with traditional partners.

In 2025, Viet Nam’s trade with the rest of the world grew over 20 percent to surpass the US$900 billion mark, a miracle in a volatile world.

Looking foward to the future, Viet Nam will continue to further proactive engagement in the international community to realize its development goals through 2030 and 2045 and to handle increasingly complex headwinds.

Giving the backdrop, one of the top priorities should be firmly safeguarding the environment of peace, cooperation and development in association with protecting the Fatherland early and from afar.

From that perspective, the close coordination of three pillars – diplomacy, security and defense as well as the close collaboration between these pillars and ministries and agencies in charge of economic affairs would remain the key strategic direction.

In addition, economic diplomacy needs to be further strengthened and promoted to a new level, especially in such domains of science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition.

As Viet Nam is set to enter the new era of the nation’s rise in 2026, Viet Nam’s global engagement targets to proactively consolidate the peaceful environment for development while joining common efforts in building global norms based on international law.

Viet Nam will continue to act as a trusted and responsible partner and stand ready to work with partners in creating mutually beneficial cooperation spaces for peace, cooperation and development on the globe./.