General Secretary To Lam and his wife are about to officially visit the UK.

General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly will pay an official visit to the UK from October 28 to 30.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 26, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, will pay an official visit to the UK from October 28 to 30.

General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly

PHOTO: VNA

Vietnam and the United Kingdom established diplomatic relations on September 11, 1973. In September 2010, the two countries signed a Joint Declaration on the establishment of a Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership. On September 30, 2020, they issued a new Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership with seven priority areas of cooperation and affirmed their commitment to elevating the relationship to a higher level in the next 10 years.

Over the past period, Vietnam-UK relations have developed increasingly. The two sides currently maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the annual Strategic Dialogue at the Deputy Foreign Minister level, held on a rotating basis; the Defence Policy Dialogue at the Deputy Minister level; the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting; and the Dialogue on Migration.

Regarding economic and trade cooperation, the two countries signed the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which officially came into effect on December 31, 2020.

Bilateral trade turnover in 2024 reached US$8.424 billion , an 18% increase compared to 2023. Trade turnover in the first eight months of 2025 reached US$6.1 billion (a 9.3% increase compared to the same period in 2024), of which exports reached US$5.4 billion (an 8.2% increase) and imports reached US$630.9 million (a 19.8% increase).

Trade between Vietnam and the UK has reached an all-time high.

Regarding investment, as of the end of August 2025, the UK had nearly 606 active investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of approximately US$4.65 billion , ranking 15th out of 152 countries and territories with investment projects in Vietnam. Vietnam had 16 projects with a total registered capital of over US$37.6 million.

Regarding cooperation in responding to climate change and energy transition: The UK is one of the most active and consistent partners cooperating with Vietnam in the fields of environment, climate change, and the implementation of outcomes from the COP26 conference.

At their March 2022 meeting in Germany, G7 ministers decided to approve the UK's proposal to support a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) agreement between the G7 and Vietnam.

There are currently around 110,000 Vietnamese people in the UK, including 12,000 students and researchers. The Vietnamese community in the UK generally lives in harmony and stability, with 90% concentrated in major cities such as London, Birmingham, and Manchester.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-sap-tham-chinh-thuc-anh-185251026180703003.htm