Vietnam and the European Union (EU) on Thursday upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the official visit to Vietnam by European Council President Antonio Costa, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vietnam has gained significantly from globalization, developing into an important export base for electronics, apparel and consumer goods. While this export-driven expansion has boosted incomes and reshaped the economy, the country’s sizable and enduring trade surplus has also attracted criticism, especially from the U.S. and, increasingly, from Europe, where officials have voiced worries over market access. 

Vietnam aims to sustain growth and achieve high-income status by 2045, and is actively expanding into new markets to lessen its dependence on the U.S., its largest export destination accounting for about 30 percent of outbound shipments. The two sides concluded a free trade agreement in 2020.

According to a press release issued the same day by the EU Delegation to Vietnam, the new partnership will provide a framework for closer cooperation across all key areas, including trade and investment, sustainable development, climate and energy, digital transformation, security-related issues and cooperation in multilateral fora.

Describing the upgrade as "a significant new milestone," Costa said it fully captures the depth and breadth of the two sides' collaboration and expectations for future evolution in trade, green and digital transition, security and people-to-people ties, according to the release.

During talks with Costa on Thursday, Vietnamese President Luong Cuong said that Vietnam-EU relations are developing in a positive, substantive and comprehensive manner, with economic, trade and investment cooperation serving as the main driving force of the relationship, local media Voice of Vietnam reported.