Bulletin N°57 mai 2025 The French head of state, on an official visit, was hosted successively by Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore between May 26 and May 30 (2 days per stop). It was a major moment in global news, mainly in France, where flatterers and media under orders have constantly praised President Macron's international gesture.
While the President of the United States moves hundreds of billions of dollars when he travels to the Middle East, our President brings back 9 billion euros in contracts from Vietnam and potentially 17 billion from Indonesia. As for the speech given at an international conference in Singapore (on international security issues), from what we understand, its value is immeasurable.
In Vietnam, President Macron successfully placed 20 Airbus 330neo and 96 Airbus 320 aircraft, acquired by the major Vietnamese airline (Vietjet), a port investment for CMA CGM (€527 million – deep-water port). Cooperation is also discussed on nuclear energy, observation satellites, and vaccines (with Sanofi).
This record is remarkable compared to the latest known data on French investments in Vietnam: $90 million in 2023. The Chinese have invested more than $9 billion, but Germany only... $366 million. Vietnam has the best growth profile in the region with several assets, in particular a well-educated population 1 (5,000 engineers/year) and an "excellent" inclusion in globalization to the point that the country has been particularly targeted by the Trump administration's customs policy. In short, €9 billion is too little and too late for French capitalism (under the audacious assumption of considering Airbus as a flagship of French capitalism alone).
In Indonesia, our trade representative played the role of arms dealer with 17 billion euros in contracts... the details of which are unknown. These are said to be a dozen Rafale fighter jets (Dassault) in addition to the 2022 order including the phased delivery of 42 Rafale between 2022 and 2024, Caesar cannons, two submarines and 13 interception radars. To date, the Indonesian authorities have only signed a letter of intent. The Indonesian head of state, a former general who distinguished himself in the former Timor conflict by his brutality described as excessive (which in good French means brutal repression), will be the guest of our next July 14th, nothing like a martial parade to win support!
Indonesia is one of the states that still have not recognized the State of Israel. As France is one of the states that does not recognize the State of Palestine, there was a subject of debate between "Brothers" (greeting from Macron to his Indonesian counterpart, very much in demand for fraternity our President currently, a head of state, a football player, maybe tomorrow, who knows? - a steelworker fighting to preserve his means of production?) Let it be said, all this is a question of sensitivity (sic) but France is thinking very hard about recognition.
In Singapore, at the Shangri-La Defense and Security Forum (the Dialogue), the French President outlined a third path: between a threatening China and an arrogant United States, we must unite European and Asian goodwill to build a world of commercial justice and lasting peace, by renouncing double standards in the assessment of international situations – the precision deserves praise, we will remember it...
Ever the ardent defender of sovereignty, he admonished China for not banning North Korea from sending troops to Ukraine. Otherwise, he threatened, NATO could demonstrate its presence in Southeast Asia. This speech was nothing new, as the expansion of NATO's scope of intervention was debated under the previous US presidency.
The least we can say is that this speech is disconcerting, to say the least, as Europeans are loudly worried about the disengagement of the United States, a pillar of NATO. Promising NATO to Asia under these conditions is ludicrous, to say the least. And then, the United States is sufficiently present in the region to bother with NATO (and the expenses that go with it) in the area (with bilateral defense agreements, particularly with Japan and the Philippines).
The lessons of this trip are hardly ambiguous; despite all his oratorical efforts and the contracts signed, the head of state has clearly signaled his place in the ongoing imperialist confrontation in Asia: somewhere in nowhere!