European Council president to visit Vietnam this week

The visit will be only the second official trip to Vietnam by the EU’s top leader, following the 2012 visit by then European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

It also comes shortly after Vietnam successfully concluded the 14th National Party Congress last Friday, making Costa one of the first senior international leaders to visit the country in the new political term.

Born in 1961, António Costa served as Portugal’s prime minister from 2015 to 2024.

He assumed the post of president of the European Council in December 2024.

In this role, Costa chairs the EU’s highest-level political body, which defines the bloc’s general political direction and priorities.

Vietnam and the EU have steadily deepened their relationship over more than 35 years since formally establishing diplomatic ties on November 28, 1990.

One of the cornerstones of the partnership is the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which the EU has repeatedly described as a success and a model trade agreement in the region.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU exceeded US$66.8 billion in the first 11 months of 2025, up 6.6 percent from the same period in 2024.

The EU is currently Vietnam’s fourth-largest trading partner, after China, the United States, and South Korea.

It is also Vietnam’s third-largest export market and fifth-largest source of imports.

For its part, Vietnam is the EU’s 16th-largest trading partner globally and its largest partner within ASEAN.

EU foreign direct investment in Vietnam totals about $30 billion, ranking the bloc sixth among 140 countries and territories investing in the country.

Vietnamese investment in the EU includes 98 projects with combined registered capital of approximately $434.88 million.

Cooperation in science, technology, and innovation has emerged as a new pillar of Vietnam-EU relations.

Last year, Vietnam and several EU member states signed key agreements, including a strategic sectoral partnership on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation with Sweden, a memorandum of understanding on digital transition and digital economy cooperation with Estonia, and a bilateral agreement on science, technology, and innovation with France.

The EU has also prioritized collaboration with Vietnam in green growth, sustainable development, and climate change response.

Several projects are currently being implemented in Vietnam under the EU’s Global Gateway framework.

Launched in 2021, Global Gateway is a European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors, while also strengthening health, education and research systems across the world.