Immediately after the complete liberation of the South, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Saigon government, which is now the headquarters of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs at 6 Alexandre de Rhodes. On May 2, 1975, the Saigon-Gia Dinh City Department of Foreign Affairs was established. After the National Reunification Consultation on April 25, 1976, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs was established, replacing the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs is the southern representative agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is also in charge of foreign affairs of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and People's Committee. Under the unified direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, over the past 50 years, the Department of Foreign Affairs has overcome difficulties, implemented the foreign policy of the Party and State in Ho Chi Minh City, carried out the foreign affairs tasks of the City, and made an important contribution to the process of building and developing Ho Chi Minh City.
1. The first tasks of establishment
Immediately after the liberation day, Ho Chi Minh City faced numerous difficulties and challenges in all three aspects: politics, economy and society. In such a complex and difficult context, the City still boldly accepted and completed many important tasks assigned by the Party and the State, such as participating in the implementation of international obligations through directly supporting the Cambodian people in the capital Phnom Penh; receiving, managing and handling a large amount of diplomatic assets left by international delegations and organizations before 1975 or welcoming international delegations - friends who had supported the Vietnamese people during the resistance war - to visit Vietnam again. The historic visits of French President François Mitterrand in 1993, French President Jacques Chirac in 1997, General Secretary and President of China Jiang Zemin in 1994, and Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1995 became authentic voices, helping to convey the image of Vietnam as righteous, tolerant, and yearning for peace and reconstruction.
In particular, during that difficult period, our country, specifically the southern provinces, had to face a very painful and complicated internal problem: the wave of people evacuating abroad by sea. This situation not only caused serious consequences for humanity, security and order, but also gave rise to sensitive issues in international relations. At that historical moment, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs was assigned the responsibility of being the agency in charge of implementing the Family Reunification Program and the Mixed-race Program - programs of humanitarian significance, aiming to ensure the rights of people in an orderly, safe and controlled manner. Practice has proven that this is a correct policy, bringing great efficiency both domestically and internationally. Many people who left under this program have returned to their homeland, participated in investment and cooperation activities, contributing to connecting the overseas Vietnamese community with the country.
2. Contribute to the normalization process with the US
Ho Chi Minh City is considered the cradle of the normalization of Vietnam-US relations through economic and educational cooperation activities. Just one month after President Bill Clinton announced the lifting of the trade embargo (February 1994), in March 1994, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam and the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) - the predecessor of Fulbright University Vietnam - were officially established in Ho Chi Minh City. These two initiatives were implemented with active support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and other departments and branches of the City, demonstrating the pioneering and proactive role of the City in promoting bilateral relations.
A particularly important milestone was the establishment of friendly cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco, California, USA on April 10, 1995 – three months before Vietnam and the United States officially normalized diplomatic relations (July 1995). This signing not only demonstrated Ho Chi Minh City’s pioneering role in implementing the foreign policy of the 7th Congress: “Vietnam wants to be friends with all countries in the world community, striving for peace, independence and development” but also contributed to laying the foundation for the formation of the Vietnam – United States Comprehensive Strategic Partnership later.
3. Open diplomacy and foreign policy strategy of Ho Chi Minh City:
After nearly 50 years of development, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs has advised the City to establish friendly and cooperative relations with 59 localities around the world, and is an active member of many international organizations such as CityNet, C40, LUCI, World Cities Summit... The role of foreign affairs is even more evident in the most tense period when the City became the epicenter of the epidemic in the country. Thanks to the transparent information policy and timely dialogue, it has helped build trust and effective cooperation between the City government and consular agencies and international organizations in the area.
Not only that, in addition to foreign affairs work in the city, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs also plays a good role in supporting local foreign affairs agencies in the South from Da Nang onwards. Regular tasks of consular work such as processing legalization and consular certification documents; organizing local visits of foreign consular agencies to southern provinces; coordinating to ensure security and safety for consular agencies, consular officers and foreigners... are all well performed by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs, worthy of its role as the "extended arm" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the southern region.
On that basis, with the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the City has issued the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045, closely linked to socio-economic development goals, effectively attracting international resources, enhancing the City's position, and at the same time actively contributing to the implementation of the Party's foreign policy in the current period of deep international integration.
Up to now, Ho Chi Minh City is still the only locality in the country with a Department of Foreign Affairs that assumes a "dual" function - being an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, performing the task of advising and uniformly managing foreign affairs activities in the area from Da Nang to Ca Mau, and being a specialized agency of the City, directly implementing foreign affairs work to serve local socio-economic development. In April 2023, the City and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed the Coordination Regulations in the management of activities of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs - this is the first Coordination Regulation signed by the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee of a locality. This unique organizational model has created favorable conditions for the City to effectively implement the Central's foreign affairs policies and guidelines, while promoting proactiveness and creativity in proposing initiatives and cooperation programs suitable to the City's development practices.
4. New Ho Chi Minh City – Expanding stature, enhancing foreign position
The new Ho Chi Minh City – formed from the existing Ho Chi Minh City and the two provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, with a total area of over 6,770 km² and a population of over 14 million people – has opened up unprecedented development opportunities for the City. At the working session between General Secretary To Lam and the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and the Provincial Party Committees of the three localities, the new vision for Ho Chi Minh City was identified as becoming an “international megacity” of Southeast Asia. To realize this vision, the City needs outstanding efforts, innovative thinking and synchronous coordination between sectors and fields.
In particular, foreign affairs are facing unprecedented opportunities for breakthroughs. As the leader in local diplomacy, Ho Chi Minh City has favorable conditions to promote international cooperation in a more comprehensive, profound and substantive manner, thereby contributing to bringing the City to regional and world levels.
In particular, after the merger, the number of foreign localities having cooperative friendship relations (twinning) with Ho Chi Minh City will increase from 59 to 86 localities - creating a wide network of partners across five continents: Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania. This will be a valuable resource for the City to expand regional connectivity, attract investment, access knowledge, technology and international experience in areas such as urban management, green economic development, digital economy, seaports - logistics and training of high-quality human resources.
With these opportunities, the City's foreign affairs will focus on the following three major directions:
(1) Continue to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement the Central Committee's directives, especially Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on international integration in the new situation - one of the four pillar documents of the "strategic quartet" on foreign affairs;
(2) Adjust and update the Strategy to enhance Ho Chi Minh City's foreign affairs until 2030 in the direction of deepening relations with localities that have signed agreements, shifting from pure friendship to substantive cooperation, focusing and in line with the development needs of the City in the new period;
(3) Strengthening integration and innovation capacity in foreign affairs activities, focusing on promoting cooperation programs on innovation, developing artificial intelligence ecosystems, digital transformation; expanding links with technology centers, research institutes, universities and leading creative enterprises in the world;
(4) Focus on training a team of cadres, experts and young generations with global thinking, digital skills, foreign language proficiency and the ability to adapt to the international working environment - thereby creating a solid foundation for Ho Chi Minh City to become a creative, deeply integrated and influential urban area in the network of global cities.
Looking back over the past 50 years, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs is not only proud of the strong foreign relations marks that Ho Chi Minh City has left on the national diplomatic map, but also appreciates the silent but persistent contributions of many generations of foreign affairs officers - the pioneer soldiers on the front line without gunfire, but requiring courage, intelligence and a passionate heart.
From August 22 to 23, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize activities to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnamese Diplomatic Service (August 28, 1945 - August 28, 2025) and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1975 - 2025), in which the highlight is the flower offering at the President Ho Chi Minh Monument, the exhibition "80 years of Vietnamese Diplomacy: Honor and Pride", the Celebration Ceremony at the City Theater, the policy dialogue "Vietnamese Diplomacy: Strategic Vision and Local Cooperation", a friendship walk,...
Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/so-ngoai-vu-tphcm-50-nam-tiep-noi-tu-hao-kien-tao-tuong-lai-1019393.html
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