At the meeting, Gen. Thang highly appreciated the exhibition’s professional organization, impressive scale, and the advanced technologies showcased at this year’s event.
Regarding bilateral defense cooperation, the Vietnamese defense leader emphasized that it is one of the key pillars of the overall relationship between the two countries. This cooperation has continued to be consolidated and expanded, yielding positive results across various fields. Defense industry cooperation, in particular, has received growing attention from both sides, especially following the signing of the Letter of Intent on enhancing cooperation in defense equipment in May 2025.
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At the meeting between Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Truong Thang and Guillaume Ollagnier, Director General for International Relations and Strategy at the French Ministry for the Armed Forces and Veterans |
Gen. Thang emphasized that Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) stands ready to facilitate French defense enterprises in introducing their products and exploring cooperation opportunities.
Highlighting the considerable untapped potential for bilateral defense cooperation, Gen. Thang suggested the two sides continue to strengthen collaboration, focusing on delegation exchanges, particularly high-level ones; dialogue mechanisms; defense industry; education and training; the search for missing Vietnamese and French servicemen and the exchange of wartime memorabilia; and U.N. peacekeeping.
He hoped that France would continue to provide training slots for Vietnamese undergraduate and postgraduate students. He also affirmed that Vietnam’s MND is ready to receive French military personnel to participate in the International Defense Officials course and Vietnamese-language courses at Vietnamese military academies and educational institutions.
On this occasion, Gen. Thang delivered a letter from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Vietnam General Phan Van Giang inviting French Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans Catherine Vautrin to attend the third Vietnam Defense Expo, scheduled for December 2026. He also cordially invited Guillaume Ollagnier and French defense industry enterprises to participate in the exhibition.
For his part, Guillaume Ollagnier affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of France in the Asia-Pacific region and highly valued Vietnam’s increasingly prominent role and position in international affairs.
Against the backdrop of the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, bilateral defense cooperation continues to be identified as a key pillar, helping strengthen political trust and expand cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Guillaume Ollagnier stressed the desire of both sides to promptly translate agreed commitments into concrete actions, making bilateral defense ties more substantive and effective. He reaffirmed France’s commitment to being a reliable and long-term partner of Vietnam across various fields, including the defense industry, and proposed that the two countries explore additional areas of potential cooperation.
The two sides agreed to hold the fourth Vietnam - France Defense Strategy and Cooperation Dialogue later this year.
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Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Truong Thang talks to Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans of France Catherine Vautrin. |
Earlier, during a reception hosted by the French Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans for heads of delegations attending Eurosatory 2026, Gen. Thang met with Catherine Vautrin, Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans of France, and General Fabien Mandon, Chief of the Defense Staff of the French Armed Forces.
The leader of the French Ministry for the Armed Forces and Veterans expressed appreciation for the participation of the high-level delegation of Vietnam’s MND at the exhibition. She also reaffirmed the desire to further deepen bilateral defense cooperation with Vietnam, effectively leverage existing cooperation mechanisms, and expand potential areas of collaboration, thereby contributing to the stable, substantive, and sustainable development of relations between the two countries.
Kieu Trinh (from Paris, France)
Translated by Chung Anh