Macron's first formal visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in nearly a decade, follows US President Donald Trump's threats on Friday of 50 per cent duties on EU goods from June that sharply fuelled tension with the 27-nation bloc.
Export-dependant Vietnam, under pressure from Washington to buy more American goods, has made pledges in trade talks to avert 46 per cent tariffs that could impair its growth, fanning European concerns about deals at the region's expense.
Deals signed during Macron's visit covered the plane purchase, co-operation on nuclear energy, railways, Airbus earth-observation satellites and Sanofi vaccines, a list of documents seen by Reuters showed, confirming an earlier report.
France's President Emmanuel Macron and Vietnam's President Luong Cuong sit with their delegation during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on May 26, 2025. PHOTO: Nhac Nguyen via Reuters
Macron added the partnership with Vietnam "entails a reinforced defence co-operation", citing the signing of multiple projects on defence and space.
Vietnam's President Luong Cuong said the defence partnership involved "sharing of information on strategic matters" and stronger co-operation in the defence industry, cybersecurity and anti-terrorism.
On his trip, the first leg of a Southeast Asian tour that includes Indonesia and Singapore, Macron will visit a university in Hanoi on Tuesday, before flying to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
Airbus
The deal with European planemaker Airbus for Vietnam's low-cost airline VietJet to buy 20 A330neo wide-body aircraft follows last year's agreement for 20 of the jets.
The signing followed urging by European officials in recent weeks for Vietnam to be careful in concessions made to the White House, two officials based in Vietnam with knowledge of the discussions had told Reuters, referring to concerns on Airbus.
Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, contributing 86 per cent of its fleet, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
A separate agreement with Airbus Defence was also signed during the visit for co-operation with Vietnam on earth-observations satellites.
Airbus has long been in talks with Hanoi for the replacement of Vietnam's earth-observation satellite, built by Airbus' predecessor EADS and launched in 2013.
