OP-ED: Foreign policy must serve the national interest
It is no coincidence that Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW identifies foreign affairs as a key, regular task. In a world changing rapidly and marked by uncertainty, any disagreement or shift in relations among major powers can have a direct impact on Vietnam’s development environment.
Hanoi (VNA) – The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) now places foreign affairs among the country’s key, regular tasks, alongside national defence and security. This marks a shift in thinking, with foreign policy expected to move one step ahead, helping safeguard the country early and from afar, while opening up greater space, resources and opportunities for development. In practice, this requirement is gradually being translated into concrete action.
It is no coincidence that Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW identifies foreign affairs as a key, regular task. In a world changing rapidly and marked by uncertainty, any disagreement or shift in relations among major powers can have a direct impact on Vietnam’s development environment.
General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and President To Lam has also stressed that domestic and foreign affairs always go hand in hand and complement each other; foreign affairs are the extension of domestic affairs. If the country is to develop, it cannot simply focus on getting its own house in order. It must also know how to open its doors in the right direction, choose the right partners for cooperation, turn relationships into tangible benefits, and transform trust into concrete markets, technologies and knowledge.
Vietnam’s relationship with Malaysia illustrates this clearly. In the first half of 2026, bilateral trade reached 10.8 billion USD, up 40% from the same period in last year. The two countries have maintained a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since November 2024. Yet the goal now is not merely to preserve good relations, but to deepen them further, creating greater openness and facilitating economic, trade and investment cooperation in a balanced direction, while promoting the digital economy, green economy, science and technology, and innovation. The target of raising bilateral trade to 20 billion USD underlines the same requirement.
The direction is equally concrete in relations with the US. Vietnam regards the US as one of its foremost partners of strategic importance, while calling for the early conclusion of negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement and urging restraint in the use of excessive trade-defence measures that could affect the overall bilateral relationship. The two sides also need to promote mutually beneficial cooperation in science and technology. Achieving breakthroughs in science and technology, innovation and national digital transformation is a priority for Vietnam as it pursues its strategic growth objectives.
The same requirement applies to foreign capital and businesses. Vietnam is not merely seeking to attract investment; it is increasingly focused on selecting projects that bring good technology and are aligned with the country’s domestic development needs. The decision by Germany’s LAPP to regard Vietnam as a key market, amid rising demand from AI data centres, automation, renewable energy and smart infrastructure, is one example. This is precisely the direction set out in Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW, which is moving from “attraction” to “selectivity”, with priority given to high technology and projects that establish deep linkages with the domestic economy.
The resources available for development do not lie solely in investment projects or overseas markets. The more than 6.5 million Vietnamese living abroad are also a source of national strength. Remittances rose from 2.3 billion USD in 2004 to 17.7 billion USD in 2025. Total remittances sent to Vietnam from 1993 to the present, although the figures are not yet complete, have exceeded 250 billion USD, equivalent to disbursed FDI over the same period. These figures show that overseas Vietnamese are not simply people to be mobilised and cared for; they are genuinely a resource for the country.
Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW takes this thinking a step further, moving from mobilising, bringing together and caring for overseas Vietnamese to accompanying them and creating enabling mechanisms. Experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and young people abroad can contribute not only by returning to Vietnam, but also from afar, through networks connecting knowledge, technology, investment and markets. When each Vietnamese representative office becomes a hub connecting Vietnamese resources in its host country or locality, foreign affairs will be brought much closer to the task of national development.
For these resources to translate into real-world benefits, foreign affairs must also reach localities, businesses and the people. Thailand and Vietnam have just marked the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. In Can Tho, cooperation has been given concrete form through business connections, investment, trade, tourism and education. In 2025, Thai investment in the Mekong Delta city stood at approximately 119.25 million USD. In the first six months, Can Tho exported around 13.9 million USD worth of goods to Thailand and imported 3.8 million USD. The figures show that foreign policy only truly matters when it is connected to products, markets and development needs.
Looking beyond the local level to the wider region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an important space for Vietnam to expand cooperation. Vietnam has been a member of the organisation for 31 years and is working with other member states towards a united and resilient community that maintains its central role. In a region of around 800 million people, strengthening the bloc is also a means for Vietnam to expand its strategic space and create greater room for development.
Yet as cooperation expands, foreign affairs must go hand in hand with national defence and security to create a position of strength. Vietnam-Malaysia cooperation in defence, security and law enforcement at sea; cooperation with Cambodia in combating transnational crime; and exchange of views on the East Sea on the basis of international law all demonstrate how a “security-development belt” can be built on trust, coordination mechanisms and the ability to resolve differences through peaceful means.
The 258.939-km Vietnam-Cambodia border is another manifestation of this requirement in everyday life. A peaceful border is maintained not only by forces tasked with protecting national sovereignty, but also through good-neighbourly relations, people-to-people exchanges, economic cooperation and consensus at the grassroots level. If done well, safeguarding sovereignty and expanding cooperation can reinforce one another.
It is increasingly clear that foreign affairs are becoming ever more closely intertwined with national development. As General Secretary and President Lam has stressed, Vietnam remains steadfast in pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, self-strengthening, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations.
Maintaining a firm national standing, opening up avenues for cooperation and building the national strength needed to ensure that the country’s voice carries weight and influence: this is how the foreign-policy orientation set out at the 14th National Party Congress is translated into practice – safeguarding the country early and from afar, while opening the way towards rapid, sustainable and self-reliant development./.