Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam started an official visit to France from October 7 morning (local time) at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a report from the Vietnam News Agency.

A welcome ceremony, presided over by French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, was held for the top Vietnamese leader, according to national protocol at the Invalides Palace in Paris on the same day.

Following the ceremony, Mr. Lam is scheduled to have meetings with the President of the French National Assembly, the National Secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), and representatives from the France-Vietnam Friendship Association.

He will hold talks with his host and witness the exchange of cooperation agreements between the two countries, visit the headquarters of UNESCO and have a working session with its Director-General, and meet with the President of the French Senate.

The leader’s visit is taking place as the relationship between Vietnam and France has growing positively over the past time, the State-run news agency remarked, adding that it is to demonstrate the great importance the Vietnamese Party and State attach to the Vietnam-France strategic partnership and to make bilateral ties more profound and practical.