Creating a new breakthrough in bilateral cooperation.
- Could you please explain the significance and purpose of General Secretary To Lam 's official visit to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland?
- At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Keir Starmer, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, paid an official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30, 2025.
Against the backdrop of Vietnam's vibrant high-level diplomatic activities, such as the opening ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime held in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's participation in the 47th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, and General Secretary To Lam's official visit to the United Kingdom, these events conveyed a strong and consistent diplomatic message. This affirmed Vietnam's independent and self-reliant foreign policy, focused on peace , cooperation, and development, while simultaneously multilateralizing and diversifying international relations. It demonstrated Vietnam's determination to proactively and comprehensively integrate into the international community, becoming a reliable friend and partner, and a responsible member of the international community.
In particular, the visit coincided with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-United Kingdom Strategic Partnership (2010-2025), marking an important milestone for the two countries to reflect on their past cooperation, assess outstanding achievements, and set out a new vision and direction for the development of bilateral relations in the coming period.
The UK is a global power, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and one of the world's leading nations in science and technology, defense and security, finance, and innovation. These are all areas that align with Vietnam's current development needs and strategic direction, as the country strives to accelerate industrialization, modernization, and deep integration into the global economy.
General Secretary To Lam's visit is expected to create new breakthroughs in cooperation between the two countries, especially in areas with complementary potential and strengths. This will contribute to the effective implementation of the Politburo's key resolutions on science and technology development and innovation, promoting deep and comprehensive international integration, improving institutions, developing the private sector, promoting education and training, improving people's health, ensuring national energy security, in line with Vietnam's sustainable development vision and long-term strategy, towards a new, dynamic, and innovative era of development.
With these important purposes and significance, I strongly believe that this visit will open a new chapter in cooperation between the two countries with long-term, sustainable development orientations, in line with the interests and strengths of each country, for the benefit of the people and the all-round development of each country, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in each region and the world.
Looking forward to the launch of major collaborative projects.
- How do you assess the Vietnam-UK relationship over the past period, and what are your expectations for the General Secretary's visit?
- Vietnam and the United Kingdom established diplomatic relations on September 11, 1973. Britain was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Over the past half-century, the friendship and close ties between the people of the two countries have been continuously strengthened and developed.
General Secretary To Lam's official visit is not only an important diplomatic event, but also clearly demonstrates Vietnam's appreciation for its traditional Western European partners, including the UK, in its foreign policy and comprehensive international integration process.
The visit took place against the backdrop of strong and encouraging development in Vietnam-UK relations. In 2010, the two countries signed a Joint Declaration establishing a Strategic Partnership, opening a new phase of development in bilateral cooperation. In 2020, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership, Vietnam and the UK issued a Joint Declaration outlining the direction for the development of the Strategic Partnership over the next 10 years, focusing on deepening seven priority areas of cooperation. This created an important foundation for upgrading and expanding relations in the coming period, in line with the interests, potential, and strengths of both countries.
Based on these important orientations, in recent years, the two countries have regularly exchanged high-level and other delegations, thereby strengthening political trust in all fields, serving the development goals of the country, and at the same time consolidating and enhancing our foreign relations in the European region, with the Commonwealth, as well as with other countries around the world. Both sides also maintain a mechanism for bilateral dialogue and cooperation through diplomatic, security, and defense channels on an annual basis, cooperating in training and sharing experiences in areas such as UN peacekeeping, maritime affairs, migration and immigration, and crime prevention…
In terms of economics, trade, and investment, the UK is currently Vietnam's third largest trading partner in Europe, and Vietnam is the UK's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. The UK has 587 active projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of approximately US$4.46 billion, ranking 15th out of 152 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Vietnam was also one of the first countries to sign a free trade agreement with the UK after Brexit, effectively utilizing this agreement to drive strong growth in bilateral trade turnover year after year.
In science and technology, the two sides have implemented approximately 50 joint research projects and several other cooperation activities. Regarding the environment and climate change, the UK is the coordinator and actively supports Vietnam in implementing the Joint Partnership Agreement on the Just Energy Transition (JETP) between Vietnam and the International Partnership Group (IPG). In terms of development cooperation, the UK is one of Vietnam's leading donors through the Prosperity Fund, the Newton Fund, the Climate Action Programme for a Sustainable Asia (CARA), etc.
The UK is a popular choice for many Vietnamese students. Currently, more than 12,000 Vietnamese students are studying at universities and educational institutions in the United Kingdom. In addition, thousands of Vietnamese professionals and intellectuals are working in the fields of science, technology, finance, and innovation in the UK. Cooperation in other areas such as culture, sports, and people-to-people exchanges has also yielded significant results.
The aforementioned positive achievements are the result of the determination and efforts of both sides, and the contributions of businesses and people from both countries. It can be said that this is an important foundation for us to expect that the upcoming official visit of the General Secretary to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland will elevate bilateral relations to a new, more comprehensive and stronger level; continue to promote the effective implementation of existing cooperation mechanisms and agreements, and upgrade and establish new cooperation mechanisms; expand and deepen traditional areas of cooperation, while opening up new, breakthrough directions that are consistent with the potential and meet the practical needs of each country in the current rapidly changing world. We look forward to the launch of major cooperation projects, the organization of many exchange activities, and the strengthening of mutual understanding and closer ties between the people of the two countries.
Thank you, ma'am!
Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/nhan-chuyen-tham-chinh-thuc-lien-hiep-vuong-quoc-anh-va-bac-ireland-cua-tong-bi-thu-to-lam-de-ra-tam-nhin-va-dinh-huong-phat-trien-moi-cho-quan-he-song-phuong-10393227.html
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