French President Emmanuel Macron has begun a tour of Southeast Asia. On Monday, he visited Vietnam for the first time during his presidency, and then he will visit Indonesia and Singapore. The purpose of the visit, as stated in the Elysee Palace, is to strengthen France’s Indo–Pacific strategy by concluding dozens of trade, defense, scientific and technical agreements.
France is geographically present in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, controlling its overseas territories, communities and departments. Unsurprisingly, it became the first European country to formalize its own Indo-Pacific Strategy. Back in 2018, Macron outlined the framework of Paris’ policy in the Indo-Pacific region (ITR): resolving disputes through dialogue and multilateral relations, contributing to maritime security, supporting the sovereignty of states and combating climate change. France is also the only EU country that permanently deploys its military forces in Syria. In early 2025, a French aircraft carrier strike group was deployed in the South China Sea.
The region in Paris is considered “squeezed between the United States and China”: Washington exerts “extremely strong pressure” on it with the help of duties, and Beijing regularly initiates territorial disputes. According to Macron, many countries of the Asia-Pacific region do not want to be faced with a choice between the United States and China, and therefore Paris should look for ways to establish a trusting partnership equidistant from the two opposing centers of power. That is, to become a balancing party and embody the “third way” of developing a relationship. As emphasized in Paris, during the presidential visit, France intends to present itself as a reliable partner that “respects the sovereignty and independence” of the countries and territories. “This region with a population of 700 million people today accounts for 4.5% of global GDP, and it remains the most dynamic economically,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. Therefore, several dozen agreements and contracts in various fields are expected to be signed during the visit.
Thus, according to the AP, agreements and contracts in the field of defense, nuclear energy and trade totaling 9 billion euros were signed in Hanoi on Monday. Particular attention is paid to the deal between the Vietnamese low–cost airline VietJet and the Airbus concern for the supply of 20 wide-body A330-900 aircraft.
According to Macron, the “sovereign partnership” between Paris and Hanoi could become the central axis of France’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This will be facilitated by France’s participation in a project to build high-speed trains that will connect Hanoi in northern Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The project is estimated at $67 billion and promises to become the largest in the field of infrastructure in the coming years. Paris is also ready to promote a number of renewable energy projects in Vietnam.
“In an environment of instability in the trade sphere, when US President Donald Trump imposes almost prohibitive duties on the goods of his European allies, then postpones their introduction, Macron is forced to look for new markets for products from France and the European Union,” chief researcher at IMEMO RAS, a leading researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies, told NG Marina Klinova.
According to her, the French president is taking advantage of Vietnam’s disagreements with its main partners today. On the one hand, Vietnam is threatened with 46 percent duties by the United States, a major importer of Vietnamese industrial products. On the other hand, China has territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Through projects in the defense and space sectors, Paris intends to strengthen cooperation with Hanoi in the field of information exchange on strategic issues, cybersecurity, and the fight against terrorism.
“An order has been announced for 20 Airbus A330–900 aircraft in addition to a similar contract for 20 airliners signed in 2024 with the European aircraft concern. According to expert estimates, the products of Airbus, the main supplier of aircraft to Vietnam, account for 86% of the country’s fleet,” said Klinova. – At the same time, Vietnam is interested in acquiring at least 250 Boeing aircraft in order to reduce the trade surplus with the United States. So Hanoi faces a difficult task in negotiations with Washington to respond to Trump’s claims and not harm the interests of the EU.”
In Hanoi, Macron paid tribute to the memory of the Vietnamese who fought against the French colonialists, visited the Temple of Literature of the XI century, and also held talks with President Luong Kyong and Secretary General of the Communist Party To Lam.
The French president also commented on the footage of First Lady Brigitte Macron during their arrival in Vietnam, which caused numerous questions and comments almost all over the world. The video, shot on Sunday evening by the AP agency at Hanoi airport, showed the moment when Macron and his wife got off the plane. The door of the liner was opened a little earlier than the couple were ready to pose for the cameras. As a result, the footage showed the moment when Brigitte abruptly touched her husband’s face with her hand, which from the outside might have seemed like a slap in the face or an attempt to push him away. Macron explained that he and his wife were just joking. “We were fooling around and really joking with my wife. This is turning into almost a geoplanetary catastrophe,” he complained.