Vietnamese President To Lam is scheduled to arrive in Manila next week for a two-day state visit, marking a historic milestone in the diplomatic relations between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.
According to an announcement from Malacañang on Wednesday, May 27, the state visit will take place from May 31 to June 1. The Presidential Palace emphasized that the trip carries deep symbolic value, arriving just ahead of the 50th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties and celebrating a decade of their strategic partnership.
Notably, this marks the first time a Vietnamese party leader will conduct an official state visit to the Philippines.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will host his Vietnamese counterpart at Malacañang Palace, where the two heads of state are slated to hold high-level bilateral discussions. The talks aim to deepen mutual ties across a broad spectrum of sectors, including maritime security, defense, agriculture and food security, trade, tourism, and academic exchanges.
”At the bilateral meeting, it is expected that the discussions of the two leaders will reflect on the five decades of robust cooperation between the Philippines and Viet Nam,” the Palace said.
Vietnam holds a unique position as the only official Strategic Partner of the Philippines within the ASEAN region, a relationship sustained by decades of public sector collaboration, private enterprise agreements, and grassroots connections.
The upcoming summit also coincides with expanding diplomatic infrastructure, as the Philippines prepares to open its new Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City by the middle of this year to better serve the community of over 7,000 Filipinos currently residing in Vietnam.