Poland and Vietnam announce strategic partnership during Tusk visit to Hanoi

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland and Vietnam have upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership, pledging to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, security and defence, as well as education, science, technology and cultural exchanges.

“Vietnam and Poland share a success story in terms of development,” declared Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a joint press conference with his Vietnamese counterpart Lê Minh Hưng in Hanoi on Monday. “The time has come to turn our successes into joint actions that will open up more opportunities.”

The announcement comes amid a broader flurry of Polish diplomacy in Asia, with Tusk arriving in Hanoi following a visit to India and President Karol Nawrocki visiting the Philippines earlier this month. Poland also recently signed new strategic agreements with South Korea and Japan.

Tusk, who was making the first visit by a Polish prime minister to Vietnam in 16 years, pointed to the two countries’ rapid recent economic development.

“Within a single generation, Vietnam achieved middle-income status”, while “Poland recently joined the ranks of the world’s 20 largest economies”.

In fact, while Poland was forecast to join the world’s 20 largest economies last year, it eventually fell narrowly short. However, it is expected to soon overtake Switzerland, the current holder of 20th place.

Tusk said that, during his visit, he had often heard people say that “Poland is the Vietnam of Europe and Vietnam is the Poland of Asia”.

Last year, Hưng’s predecessor, Phạm Minh Chính, became the first Vietnamese prime minister in 15 years to visit Poland.

The two countries first established diplomatic relations in 1950, and both leaders emphasised Poland’s large Vietnamese community, which dates back to students arriving around that time.

Speaking on Monday, Hưng noted the two countries’ strong traditional ties, adding that Vietnam always remembers and is grateful for Polish support and assistance during his country’s struggle for independence and national reunification, reports the Vietnamese News Agency (VNA).

The new strategic partnership agreement signed by Tusk and Hưng pledges to “bring tangible benefits to both nations and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity”.

It contains commitments to “maintain regular high-level contacts”, reduce non-tariff barriers to trade, and strengthen cooperation on defence, including trade in military equipment.

On Sunday, Poland’s deputy minister for state assets, Konrad Gołota, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that negotiations are already underway for Vietnam to buy Polish Krab howitzers and Rosomak armoured fighting vehicles, among other hardware.

Tusk, pointing to Poland’s current trade deficit with Vietnam, said that Warsaw’s “priority remains a better balance in trade”.

“The sectors in which the Vietnamese side is most interested, and in which we really have something to offer, are the arms industry, satellite and space cooperation, pharmaceuticals and food, especially dairy products,” he added.

Tusk also announced that the number of annual Polish-Vietnamese student exchanges would rise by 250% and noted that Poland’s national carrier, LOT, would resume direct Warsaw-Hanoi flights in the first quarter of 2027.

The Polish prime minister acknowledged differences between Poland and Vietnam’s approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vietnam, which has long maintained close ties with Moscow, has avoided condemning the Russian invasion.

But he emphasised his belief that, “because of their history, wartime experience and international relations, both Vietnam and Poland can contribute a great deal to the peace process”.

Tusk’s trip to Vietnam follows a three-day visit to India, where he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a goal of doubling bilateral trade by 2030.

In April, Tusk visited South Korea, upgrading Poland’s relations with the country he described as Poland’s “most important ally after the United States”, and deepened Poland’s strategic partnership with Japan on the same tour.

Earlier this month, Tusk also announced plans to visit China before the end of the year. Meanwhile, President Nawrocki visited the Philippines this month as part of a bid to secure backing from Asian nations for Poland’s hoped-for membership in the G20.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: KPRM/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Leo Greenberg

Leo Greenberg is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. Based in Kyiv, he writes about global politics, Europe and America, and the war in Ukraine.