Comprehensively promoting Vietnam-UK cooperation to new heights

Ahead of the official visit of General Secretary To Lam , his wife and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30 at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Do Minh Hung shared with VNA reporters the significance of the visit to the developing Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

Below is the full text of the conversation:

- Could you please tell us about the purpose, significance and main activities of the upcoming visit to the UK by General Secretary To Lam, his wife and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation when the two countries celebrate 15 years of Strategic Partnership (2010-2025).

Ambassador Do Minh Hung: General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay an official visit to the United Kingdom from October 28-30 at the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

This is the first visit by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the UK in 12 years, right on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Strategic Partnership (2010-2025) and taking place in the context of the two countries promoting multifaceted cooperation through the framework of the Strategic Partnership which has developed very well in recent years.

The visit is of great significance, an opportunity for both sides to discuss and agree on directions to promote and elevate the relationship to a new level in the coming period, increase political trust, improve the effectiveness of cooperation in traditional areas such as trade-investment, education-training, science-technology, and at the same time expand cooperation in new areas that are the UK's strengths and are suitable for Vietnam's development requirements such as finance, high technology, strategic infrastructure, green energy, and sustainable development.

The visit also affirmed Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralization, for peace, cooperation and development, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's prestige and foreign position in the region and the world.

During the visit, General Secretary To Lam is expected to hold talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and meet with leaders of the National Assembly to discuss and agree on measures to promote the Strategic Partnership between the two countries; attend and give a speech at a high-level economic conference with many large British enterprises to enhance cooperation in finance-banking, energy, science-technology and green development.

At Oxford University - the UK's leading research and training center, General Secretary To Lam is expected to deliver an important policy speech on the vision for the framework of Vietnam-UK relations and the renovation and development orientation of Vietnam in the era of national development.

On the occasion of the visit, the General Secretary will meet with representatives of the Vietnamese community living, studying and working in the UK, as one of the first activities of the visit, affirming the consistent policy of the Party and State towards the Vietnamese community abroad and the General Secretary's attention to the Vietnamese community in the UK.

Vietnamese people in the UK celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo: Minh Hop/VNA)

As a result of the visit, the two sides are expected to sign and approve many important cooperation documents in the fields of politics-diplomacy, economics-trade, science-technology, green transformation and sustainable development.

Many cooperation agreements between universities and businesses of the two countries will also be signed, opening up great opportunities in training, research, finance-banking and healthcare, areas of strength in the UK and in line with Vietnam's development orientation.

I firmly believe that the official visit to the UK by General Secretary To Lam and his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation will be a great success, comprehensively promoting the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries to a new height, contributing to the realization of the country's development goals in the new period and enhancing Vietnam's prestige and foreign position in the region and the world.

- Could you please assess the current Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership? What are the key areas of cooperation? According to you, how will General Secretary To Lam's visit create momentum for bilateral relations?

Ambassador Do Minh Hung: The Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership is currently at a very good stage of development with many outstanding achievements in the fields of bilateral cooperation as well as effective coordination between the two countries at multilateral forums and international organizations.

In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two countries regularly maintain delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones, and effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Deputy Foreign Minister-level Strategic Dialogue and the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), while supporting each other in multilateral forums and international organizations.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long took a souvenir photo with delegates attending the Vietnam-UK Business Forum on the sidelines of the 14th meeting of the Vietnam-UK Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation. (Photo: VNA)

In the field of security and defense, the two sides maintain the Defense Policy Consultation and Migration Dialogue, focusing on cooperation in peacekeeping training, preventing organized crime, cyber security and illegal migration. Recently, the Strategic Action Plan for the period 2024-2026 is being effectively implemented, focusing on priority areas such as politics, diplomacy, economy, sustainable growth, science and technology, education, human resource development and cooperation in responding to climate change.

In terms of economics and trade, the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), implemented from 2021, has helped bilateral trade turnover grow strongly in the context of global economic difficulties and reach a record of 8.4 billion USD in 2024, an increase of 18% compared to 2023.

The two sides aim to soon increase this figure to 10 billion USD in the near future. The UK is currently Vietnam's third largest trading partner in Europe and Vietnam is the UK's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

In terms of investment, by 2024, the UK has 587 investment projects with a total capital of nearly 4.46 billion USD, focusing mainly on the fields of finance and banking, information technology, manufacturing, renewable energy and service industries such as education, healthcare, transportation, and real estate. These are areas in which the UK has strengths and is consistent with Vietnam's economic development orientation, green transformation, and innovation.

Cooperation in education, training and science and technology between Vietnam and the UK is also a bright spot in the bilateral relationship with many important steps forward in recent years.

The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Education Cooperation in 2019, with strong coordination between leading universities in the UK and Vietnam in training, teaching, scientific research and academic exchange. The UK also actively supports the improvement of English training capacity in Vietnam and expands scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in the UK.

As mentioned above, the upcoming official visit of General Secretary To Lam and his wife along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation is of utmost importance, especially in promoting and elevating the relationship to a new height in the coming period.

The potential for cooperation between the two countries is assessed to be very large, especially in areas of the UK's strengths and in line with Vietnam's development goals such as digital transformation, innovation, financial-banking cooperation, especially the International Financial Center project in Vietnam, sustainable energy, human resource development, and scientific research.

The two sides agreed that the above cooperation areas will be new driving forces for multifaceted cooperation in the new development period.

- Educational cooperation is a bright spot in the Vietnam-UK relationship. According to the Ambassador, what should the two countries do to further promote educational and training cooperation in priority areas such as science and technology, innovation, international finance, and at the same time strengthen friendship ties through the Vietnamese student community in the UK?

Ambassador Do Minh Hung: Over the years, the UK has always been a priority destination for Vietnamese students, with about 15,000 students currently studying at UK universities, colleges and high schools.

More than 100 Vietnamese students from schools and universities across the UK attended Leader Camp 2024 at the University of Westminster in London. (Photo: Phong Ha/VNA)

Educational cooperation between the two countries has been a bright spot in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, creating a solid foundation for developing high-quality human resources to meet the challenges and requirements of the era of technology and innovation globally.

Priority areas such as science and technology, innovation, international finance and the semiconductor industry play an important role in the socio-economic development orientation of both countries.

Vietnam values innovation and high technology as a new driving force for development, focusing on developing new technology industries such as semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence (AI), green technology, energy conversion, and finance, while the UK is a leading center for research and innovation, possessing a developed technology ecosystem and financial market.

To promote cooperation in education and training in these fields, the two sides need to expand academic exchange programs, develop interdisciplinary research projects and organize in-depth seminars to share knowledge and practical experience, while enhancing the training of high-quality human resources through joint training programs, student and expert exchanges between schools and educational institutions.

The role of Vietnamese students in the UK is very important in enhancing people-to-people exchanges and consolidating the friendly relationship between the two countries. The student community is the "cultural ambassadors", a bridge to inspire and promote the country's cultural traditions and image.

Building and developing a network of Vietnamese students in the UK, organizing community activities and developing leadership skills will help promote this role, while creating conditions for the Vietnamese student community in the UK to contribute to promoting bilateral relations and contributing to the country's future development.

Thank you, Ambassador./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/day-manh-toan-dien-quan-he-hop-tac-viet-nam-anh-len-tam-cao-moi-post1072860.vnp