At the conference, Party Central Committee member, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, and Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang delivered a presentation titled "Directions for elevating local external relations through 2030, viewed from Hanoi's practical experience."
The conference to disseminate and implement Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW on carrying out the foreign affairs policies adopted at the 14th National Party Congress. Photo: VNA
Thang said the 14th National Party Congress identified Vietnam as standing at a historic turning point and entering a new era of development, with the aspiration to build a strong and prosperous nation. Politburo Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW concretizes the country's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, and development. It also sets new requirements for elevating international integration in a more proactive, active, comprehensive, extensive, and effective manner.
At the same time, Politburo Resolution No. 02-NQ/TW, dated March 17, 2026, on building and developing Hanoi in the new era, identifies the capital as the national political and administrative center; a place that converges, crystallizes, and spreads the country's cultural values, intellectual strength, and resources; a regional connectivity hub; a growth pole; and an important driver of national development.
"These strategic orientations provide an important political and legal foundation. They also set new requirements for Hanoi's local external relations, which must be elevated to a new level in mindset, quality, effectiveness, and influence," Thang emphasized.
Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang delivers a presentation at the conference.
Over more than three decades of reform and international integration, Hanoi has achieved significant results in external relations. The city has established official cooperation with 58 capitals, cities, and localities around the world. It has maintained traditional partnerships while expanding cooperation with many strategic and potential partners.
Currently, investors from 117 countries and territories have projects in Hanoi. In 2025, the city attracted US$4.29 billion in foreign direct investment, placing it among the country's leading localities. Hanoi is also an active and responsible member of major international cooperation networks, including UNESCO's Creative Cities Network and Global Network of Learning Cities.
Thang noted that Hanoi has drawn several important lessons from practice. External relations are truly effective only when closely linked to socio-economic development needs; when they bring together the combined strength of Party external relations, State diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy; and when they are carried out by officials with firm political resolve, professional capacity, and a professional working style.
Delegates attend the conference. Photo: VNA.
Despite these achievements, Hanoi also recognizes, in a constructive and responsible spirit, that some limitations remain. In several areas, external relations thinking has not fully kept pace with new development requirements. The effective use of international cooperation frameworks has not matched the capital's potential and advantages. Coordination and the mobilization of international resources in some fields remain uneven.
Meanwhile, the resolution of the 18th Hanoi Party Congress sets ambitious targets for 2026-2030. These include average annual GRDP growth of more than 11%, per capita GRDP of at least US$12,000, the digital economy accounting for at least 40% of GRDP, cultural industries contributing around 9% of GRDP, and an urbanization rate of 65-70%.
To realize these goals, external relations must become an important development driver. They should help expand development space, mobilize external resources, and absorb advanced knowledge and technologies to support the capital's fast and sustainable growth.
Five key groups of tasks
Fully grasping the spirit of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW, Hanoi has identified the need to shift its external relations mindset from "receiving and adapting" to "proactively contributing, creating, and shaping development." The city will promote the pioneering role of external relations in mobilizing international resources for its strategic development tasks.
Accordingly, Hanoi will focus on five key groups of tasks.
First, the city will ensure the Party's centralized and unified leadership over external relations. All of Hanoi's external affairs activities must be placed under the direct and comprehensive leadership of the Party and closely follow the foreign policy line of the 14th National Party Congress and Politburo resolutions on international integration.
Party committees, Party organizations, agencies, and units must proactively translate the policies of the central authorities and the Hanoi Party Committee into focused action programs and plans. These plans must clearly define responsibilities, roadmaps, and results. The city will also develop an effective inter-agency coordination mechanism to ensure unity and consistency in implementing external relations activities across Hanoi.
The conference to disseminate and implement Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW on carrying out the foreign policy line adopted at the 14th National Party Congress. Photo: VNA.
Second, Hanoi will use economic diplomacy and science and technology diplomacy as breakthrough drivers for growth and transformation of the development model. External relations must directly serve the capital's goal of fast and sustainable growth. The focus will be on reforming economic diplomacy by proactively seeking, connecting, and attracting high-quality development resources from abroad.
Hanoi will step up investment promotion efforts aimed at attracting the world's leading technology corporations, international financial institutions, multilateral and bilateral investment funds, innovation centers, and world-renowned universities and research institutes. The city will also establish long-term cooperation mechanisms with networks of overseas Vietnamese experts, intellectuals and scientists, as well as international scientists, in support of Hanoi's development goals.
The city will proactively establish regular platforms connecting government agencies, businesses, academia, and international organizations. It will develop specialized cooperation forums on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital technology, biotechnology, green energy transition, and innovation. Through these efforts, Hanoi aims to become an attractive destination for global investment, knowledge, and technology flows.
External relations in science and technology should take the lead in promoting research cooperation, technology transfer, international talent attraction, and advanced solutions to Hanoi's urban development challenges, including transport, the environment, climate change, and the improvement of residents' quality of life.
Third, Hanoi will promote its cultural soft power, affirm its identity, and enhance its international standing. The resolution of the 18th Hanoi Party Congress identifies culture as one of the pillars of the city's sustainable development. External relations should help widely promote the distinctive values of the thousand-year-old Thang Long-Hanoi civilization and advance the values of "Culture, Identity, and Creativity" in the process of international integration.
Hanoi will strengthen the use of digital technology in external information work. It will continue to build and promote the city's brands as a "City for Peace," a "Creative City," and a "Global Learning City," while affirming its position as a regional center for international cultural exchange.
External relations must also create favorable conditions for the development of cultural industries, expand international markets for creative cultural products, attract investment and global resources, and contribute to the goal of having cultural industries account for about 9% of GRDP by 2030.
Fourth, Hanoi will shape the capital's external relations in close connection with national diplomacy and promote the pioneering role of urban diplomacy. Hanoi recently hosted the ASEAN City Leaders Conference. The event not only affirmed the capital's growing reputation and standing in regional cooperation networks but also showed Hanoi's increasingly proactive role in shaping cooperation initiatives among ASEAN cities on green development, digital transformation, innovation, and improved urban governance.
This experience shows that the capital's external relations not only serve Hanoi's own development needs but also help concretize and effectively support the foreign policy line of the Party and the State. As the national political and administrative center, all of Hanoi's external relations activities must be closely tied to national interests while contributing to enhancing Vietnam's image, prestige, and international standing.
Hanoi will continue improving coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and central ministries and agencies. It will substantively implement the coordination mechanism between the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hanoi Party Committee for 2026-2030, proactively join regional and international cooperation mechanisms, promote urban diplomacy, and gradually turn Hanoi into an influential international connectivity hub in Southeast Asia.
Fifth, Hanoi will strongly renew people-to-people diplomacy and improve the quality of external relations personnel. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hanoi and socio-political organizations will play a core role in implementing practical, effective, and sustainable people-to-people diplomacy activities. They will strengthen exchanges and connections between Hanoi residents and international friends, helping build the image of a friendly, civilized, elegant, and internationally integrated capital.
Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang delivers a presentation at the conference.
"The decisive factor in the quality and effectiveness of external relations is the team of officials. The city will focus on building a contingent of external relations officials with firm political resolve, a modern integration mindset, strong foreign language skills, professional expertise, and a deep understanding of international law and practices. Step by step, Hanoi will develop a professional team of external relations experts capable of meeting the capital's development requirements in the new period," Thang emphasized.
Chairman Vu Dai Thang affirmed that elevating local external relations in the spirit of the 14th National Party Congress and Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW is not only a requirement of international integration but also a strategic task to expand development space, strengthen competitiveness, and affirm the country's position in the new development stage.
For Hanoi, this is both a special political responsibility and an opportunity for the capital to uphold its pioneering and leading role in the country's comprehensive international integration.
By 2030, Hanoi aims to be not only the national political and administrative center but also a leading international connectivity hub, innovation center, and urban diplomacy center in Southeast Asia. It seeks to become a meeting point for global flows of knowledge, technology, investment, and culture.
With its thousand-year cultural tradition, spirit of solidarity, discipline, responsibility, creativity, and development, and strong confidence in the Party's leadership and the strategic directions set out at the 14th National Party Congress, Hanoi's Party organization, government, and people believe the city's external relations work through 2030 will make major progress. It will become an important driver of growth, enhance the capital's international standing, and make practical contributions to national development.
Thang emphasized that Hanoi also hopes to continue sharing and exchanging experiences with localities across the country. Together, they can build the combined strength of a comprehensive, modern Vietnamese diplomacy that carries the distinctive identity of "Vietnamese bamboo," contributing to the successful realization of the country's strategic goals in the era of national rise.