Expanding Cooperation Opportunities Between Phu Tho and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region (France)

On the afternoon of November 12, Comrade Tran Duy Dong — Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee — received and held a working session with a delegation from the regional government of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, French Republic, led by Mr. Philippe Meunier — Vice President of the Region.

Attending the reception were Comrades: Quach Tat Liem — Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee; Tran Viet Cuong — Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Department of Home Affairs; alongside leadership representatives of several departments, boards, and sectors.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong and Mr. Philippe Meunier — Vice President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region — at the reception.

On behalf of Phu Tho provincial leadership, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong welcomed Mr. Philippe Meunier and the working delegation visiting and working in Phu Tho.

He emphasized that the delegation’s visit and working trip serve as clear evidence realizing initial results from Phu Tho province’s investment promotion trip to Europe—including the French Republic—in October 2026.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong presenting a commemorative gift to the working delegation.

Highlighting the foundation of fine traditional friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and France, the Chairman noted that the two countries' upgrading of ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has opened up a new development phase, creating a framework and momentum to drive increasingly deep and substantive cooperation, including locality-to-locality cooperation.

Introducing Phu Tho’s potentials, strengths, and development orientations, Chairman Tran Duy Dong expressed expectations that both sides will continue strengthening exchanges and mutual understanding while seeking practical, effective cooperation opportunities.

Chairman Tran Duy Dong expressed the desire to enhance cooperation with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region as well as localities possessing similar strengths.

Among these, focus will be placed on investment promotion and technology transfer in automotive, electrical, electronics, automation, and green manufacturing industries; education and high-quality human resource training cooperation among universities and research institutes; exchanging experiences in smart urban governance, digital transformation, and clean energy; alongside boosting cultural exchanges, heritage preservation, and sustainable tourism development...

He affirmed that Phu Tho is ready to assign specialized agencies as focal points to early materialize cooperative programs.

Delegates taking a commemorative photo.

Speaking at the working session, Mr. Philippe Meunier — Vice President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region — thanked Phu Tho provincial leaders for their respectful and thoughtful reception.

He emphasized: The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region holds a leading economic, scientific, technological, and educational position in the French Republic, possessing numerous advantages in modern industry, innovation, high-quality human resources, university systems, and international enterprise networks. These represent favorable conditions for the region to expand cooperative ties with foreign partners, including Vietnam.

Overview of the reception.

The Vice President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region proposed that both sides early establish regular exchange channels between governments and specialized agencies; prioritizing business connections and investment promotion in manufacturing industries, pharmaceuticals and medicine, high technology, clean energy, and agricultural processing.

Concurrently, stepping up cooperation in high-quality human resource training, technology transfer, and cultural and tourism exchanges—thereby step-by-step building practical, long-term effective cooperation projects that contribute to realizing the Vietnam–France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Duc Anh