Prime Minister congratulates new French counterpart

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday named the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier the new Prime Minister of France, ending a two-month political deadlock.

Barnier, 73, is a member of the right-wing Republican Right party. He has 40 years of experience in French and European politics, having served on the European Commission and held multiple cabinet positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Viet Nam and France established diplomatic relations in 1973 which were upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2013.

The Viet Nam-France Strategic Partnership is built on four pillars: politics and diplomacy; national defense and security; economics, trade, and investment; and culture, education, and training.

France is Viet Nam’s 5th largest trading partner in Europe. The two-way trade grew at an average of 15.7 percent annually in the 2011-2019 period and reached US$4.8 billion last year.

France is the third largest European investor in Viet Nam with a total registered investment capital of US$3.8 billion./.