French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Sunday that he hoped to sign agreements for France in fields like defence, energy, and technological innovation as he visited Vietnam to begin a weeklong tour of Asia.
French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Hanoi on Sunday as part of a week-long tour of Asia that seeks to enhance cooperation in defence, energy and technological innovation. This is the first time a French president has visited Vietnam in almost a decade.
Posting on social media platform X, Macron explained he was in the region to enhance cooperation in “key areas such as defence, innovation, the energy transition and cultural exchanges.” The visit demonstrates France and the European Union’s push to establish more robust commercial and strategic ties in Asia, particularly as tensions over US tariff policy under President Donald Trump escalate.
Macron will then proceed to Indonesia and end his visit to Singapore, where he plans to speak at the Shangri-La Dialogue — Asia’s top defence summit. Macron will frame France and Europe as champions of international cooperation and rules-based trade when other powers like the US during Trump’s rule and China employ more “coercive” or “predatory” approaches.
“I am coming here to deepen our cooperation in priority areas – defence, innovation, the energy transition, and cultural exchanges,” Macron tweeted on X.
