Interface session between the Asia and Oceania Director at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France and Francophone students

On December 11, 2023, the French Faculty of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) organized an interface session between Mr. Benoît Guidée - Director for Asia and Oceania at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France and all Francophone staff, teachers and students of DAV.

The session had the presence of Mr. Benoît Guidée - Director for Asia and Oceania at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France. Mr. Jean-Marc Pommeray, Deputy Director of the Southeast Asia Division, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France; Ms. Cécile Vigneau, First Counselor of the Embassy of France in Vietnam; Mr. Corentin Houchet, Political Counselor of the Embassy of France in Vietnam. From DAV, Mr. Duong Thanh Binh - Deputy Director of the Office of Administration, Officer in charge of Francophone activities of Diplomatic Academy directly led the session.

In his opening speech, Mr. Benoît Guidée affirmed that Vietnam has an important position in the Francophone community. The Director shared that he was once a volunteer who taught French to Vietnamese officials. He said that the Francophone community has partly helped Vietnam in its process of international integration, as French is becoming a global language more than ever. In 2023, a series of important major events have been witnessed in Vietnam-France relations such as the 50th Anniversary of Establishing Vietnam-France Diplomatic Relations; the 10th Celebration of Vietnam-France strategic partnership; high-level call between Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron; meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Macron at the COP28 Summit.

While sharing with the professors and students, Mr. Guidée deeply analyzed the main foundations of the strategy of France in the Indo-Pacific  region with 4 important aspects. Besides, he also explained the importance of ASEAN in this special regional strategy. As one of the first organizations to strengthen its partnership with France, ASEAN is increasingly becoming the economic center of the strategic region; values multilateral cooperation and is able to effectively resolve conflicts.

Mr. Guidée emphasized that Vietnam is among the key partners of France thanks to its great economic potential in the context of the energy transition and technological innovation of France; the connection between history and people, and a long-term strategic vision. There are three main pillars that France prioritizes in strengthening strategic cooperation with Vietnam: Firstly, development of a sovereign partnership, strengthening of strategic autonomy, and ability to exercise sovereignty through dialogue and cooperation on multiple fields; Secondly, sustainable development, environmental transformation, and carbon emission reduction according to France's "net zéro 2050" goal; Thirdly, proactive exchange of both countries, mobilizing education and awarding scholarships to Vietnamese students, strengthening and developing bilateral cultural and artistic exchanges.

After Mr. Benoît Guidée's useful sharing, there was a lively discussion between him and the students of DAV. Kieu Gia Bao, a second-year English Language student, asked how the Francophone community in Vietnam more widely developed as there were other more dominant foreign languages; and what opportunities and priorities there were for Francophone students in Vietnam. Mr. Guidée affirmed: "I think that in addition to English which is now like a mandatory language, French is also one of the most important languages in the world, on par with English, and is also known as “the language of diplomacy". In my opinion, learning French is a way for us to see and think about the world, about countries in the francophone community, not only France but also Canada or some African countries. Learning French is also a way to open up many opportunities for young people on their educational path, on taking entrance exams to top universities of the world. In addition, French is also the language of science, providing career prospects in French businesses. Nowadays, even in France, young people also prefer other languages like Korean. So, just go from being passionate about the language and then looking ahead to the opportunities you may have, that is the way to develop the Francophone community in Vietnam and everywhere else.”

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Guidée emphasized once again the great future prospects of Vietnam-France relations and sent his most sincere thanks, wishes, words of encouragement and compliments to the Francophone teachers and students of DAV. He highly appreciated the quality of French teaching and training at the Academy and the excellent foreign language efficiency of the students. Some students, despite having started late in learning French which is their second foreign language, still manage to pronounce correctly and use diverse grammar and vocabulary. Finally, Mr. Guidée ended with a phrase in Vietnamese: “Tình hữu nghị Việt - Pháp muôn năm” (Long live the Vietnam-France friendship)./.

Other photos of the session: