French President François Hollande will pay an official visit to Vietnam on September 5-7. This is the first trip to Vietnam by a French president in 12 years.

During the stay in Vietnam, he will have one day in Hanoi and one day in HCM City.

French President François Hollande

On the morning of September 6, he will hold talks with State President Tran Dai Quang and then meet Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The French president will speak at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, on prospects for two-way trade. The French president plans to have a walk around Hanoi’s Old Quarter before leaving the capital for HCM City.

On September 7, President Hollande is scheduled to meet municipal Party Committee Secretary Dinh La Thang and People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong.

A France-Vietnam business forum will be held in HCM City within the framework of the visit.

The president will also visit HCM City Hearts Hospital, the symbol of the two-country health co-operation.

It is expected that several agreements will be signed during the president's trip to Vietnam, including a contract to set up an air quality supervision system in Hanoi and a provision of USD52.5 million from France for Vietnam's climate change projects.

France is currently Vietnam’s third largest investor of European Union with a total capital value of USD3.4 billion.