General Secretary To Lam holds talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Within the framework of his official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on October 29, right after the welcoming ceremony, General Secretary To Lam held talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the British Prime Minister's Office.

General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Keir Starmer hold talks. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to the UK on an official visit, Prime Minister Keir Starmer affirmed that the visit is an important milestone in strengthening the traditional friendship between the two countries. The Prime Minister congratulated Vietnam on the achievements it has made in recent times under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam himself; emphasizing that Vietnam is a dynamic, highly open economy that is playing an increasingly important role in the Asia- Pacific region and is one of the UK's leading important partners in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

At the meeting, General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated the impressive achievements that the UK has made in socio-economic development, making the UK the 6th largest economy in the world and the world's leading financial center. General Secretary To Lam affirmed that these achievements have contributed to helping the UK maintain its position as one of the most developed countries in the world; expressing his belief that under the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the UK will continue to develop strongly, making positive contributions to peace , cooperation and sustainable development in the world.

Discussing the cooperation between Vietnam and the UK in recent times, General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Starmer highly appreciated the positive development in bilateral cooperation, especially in efforts to remove obstacles and seek appropriate solutions in the spirit of cooperation for the common interests of the two peoples. The leaders of the two countries were pleased to see that Vietnam and the UK have many similarities on international and regional issues of mutual concern, and have been closely coordinating and supporting each other at international and regional forums.

General Secretary To Lam emphasized that Vietnam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and strategic partnership with the UK on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and looking towards the future, and is ready to cooperate closely with the UK to elevate the relationship on key pillars such as politics-diplomacy, defense-security, science-technology and digital transformation, finance-banking, education-training, environment and climate change response, culture and people-to-people exchange. The General Secretary affirmed that Vietnam, as a member of ASEAN, is ready to work with the UK to act as a bridge and promote cooperation between the UK and ASEAN, and as a gateway for the UK to access the Southeast Asian market.

At the talks, the two leaders affirmed that the two countries have great potential for cooperation in the new period, especially in the green and sustainable economic-energy transition, digital technology industry development, and high-quality human resource training. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his wish to develop comprehensive bilateral relations with Vietnam, especially within the frameworks of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized that the British Government is ready to support Vietnam in the process of implementing its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, while encouraging British businesses to increase investment and cooperation in Vietnam, and pledging to support Vietnam in implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). The two leaders agreed to set a target of doubling trade turnover in the coming time. The British Prime Minister hopes that Vietnam will support cooperation in e-commerce and financial services within the framework of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Regarding security and defense cooperation, the two sides agreed on the need to diversify cooperation, jointly address illegal immigration, and agreed to strengthen defense cooperation related to peacekeeping forces and training.

The two sides also spent time discussing international and regional issues of mutual concern. They stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region, ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, and peacefully resolving disputes in the Asia-Pacific region, including the East Sea, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

At the end of the talks, the two leaders issued a Joint Statement on the two sides officially upgrading the Vietnam-UK relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership . The Joint Statement highly appreciated the important achievements of the bilateral relationship, affirmed the principles, and set out major orientations to promote and strengthen cooperation, develop the traditional friendship and the Vietnam-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, for the long-term interests of the two peoples, for peace, society and sustainable development in each region and in the world. On this occasion, the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and the Ministry of Home Affairs of the United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in preventing and combating international fraud and a Plan to enhance cooperation on migration issues.

The two sides stressed that the two leaders' issuance of a Joint Statement on upgrading bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the signing of a migration cooperation agreement as well as a series of agreements in the fields of economics, green finance, education and training, healthcare, clean energy, renewable energy, local cooperation, etc. during the General Secretary's visit were of great significance, creating a foundation for deepening the cooperative relationship between the two countries. The two leaders agreed to closely coordinate to implement the new framework of relations.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam conveyed the greetings of the senior leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to Prime Minister Starmer and senior leaders of the UK. General Secretary To Lam invited Prime Minister Keir Starmer to visit Vietnam in the near future. Prime Minister Keir Starmer sincerely thanked and happily accepted the invitation.

HANH NGUYEN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-hoi-dam-voi-thu-tuong-anh-keir-starmer-post919115.html