Vietnam upgrades ties with France to highest level

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam and France have officially upgraded their relations to a "comprehensive strategic partnership", Vietnam's highest level, during a visit by Vietnamese President To Lam to Paris.

The move underlined Vietnam's increasingly strategic role as an important link in global supply chains and is the latest success for its flexible foreign policy known as "bamboo diplomacy".

Lam and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed increasing security and defense cooperation, according to a joint statement released on Monday after the upgrade.

The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in new areas such as aerospace, artificial intelligence, and airport transport infrastructure, it added.

After a string of deals in recent years, Vietnam's other seven top partners now include the United States, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Australia.

Total trade turnover between Vietnam and France stood at $3.4 billion in the first eight months of this year, 6.9% higher than the same period of 2023, official data showed.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Kim Coghill)