Vietnam - United Kingdom: Shaping the standards of cooperation in a new era

The official visit of General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30, 2025, at the invitation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was a resounding success. The two leaders agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, jointly shaping the standards of cooperation in the new era.

Báo Tin Tức•31/10/2025

Photo caption — General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Keir Starmer exchange a Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam-UK relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA.

Over five decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973 and 15 years after the implementation of the Strategic Partnership framework established in 2010, Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have built a strong and lasting partnership based on mutual respect and a shared vision for a secure, prosperous, and sustainable future.

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.

Ambassador Iain Frew of the United Kingdom to Vietnam stated that this visit is of great significance, marking a new stage in the relationship between the two countries, elevating it to a higher level. This is also the first visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the UK in 13 years – a historic and very important event. Ambassador Iain Frew expressed his confidence that with partners like the UK, and by seizing opportunities and overcoming global challenges, Vietnam is fully capable of continuing its success and realizing its great aspirations and potential in this new phase of development.

During the official visit, General Secretary To Lam and the Vietnamese delegation participated in many important activities, most notably talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, meetings with British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, representatives of the British Royal Family, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and major political parties in the UK. The General Secretary also delivered an important policy speech at Oxford University; met and exchanged views with representatives of the business community, leading corporations in the UK, experts and scholars in science and technology; and met with representatives of the Vietnamese community and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.

During the exchange, British leaders and partners expressed their admiration for Vietnam's tremendous achievements in all areas, demonstrating their appreciation for Vietnam's position and role in the Asia-Pacific region as well as on many issues of international concern. The British partners expressed their readiness to promptly implement the agreed-upon contents, sharing information, experience, knowledge, and expertise in diverse fields, from finance, science and technology, innovation, to healthcare, green finance, clean energy, and disaster risk reduction.

During the talks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer congratulated Vietnam on the achievements it has made in recent years under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam personally; emphasizing that Vietnam is a dynamic economy with a high degree of openness that is increasingly playing an 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.

During the visit, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam-UK relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Accordingly, the two sides will strengthen cooperation across six main pillars: enhancing political, diplomatic, defense, and security cooperation; strengthening economic, trade, investment, and financial cooperation; strengthening cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and healthcare; cooperation on environment, energy, and green transition; strengthening cooperation in education, culture, sports, tourism, people-to-people exchanges, equal rights, and other areas; and strengthening coordination on regional and international issues.

Both sides agreed to establish a Vietnam-UK Clean Energy Partnership between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant UK agencies, aiming to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy in both countries; and to support the implementation of projects under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

Vietnam and the United Kingdom affirmed that education and training are pillars of sustainable growth and human development; welcomed the signing of the Letter of Intent and agreed to continue coordinating towards renewing the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two Ministries of Education in the near future. Both sides agreed to promote academic exchanges and encourage the establishment of new joint programs, strengthening cooperation between higher education, vocational and secondary education institutions through the exchange of lecturers, researchers and students, especially in fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and aerospace.

A highlight of the official visit was General Secretary To Lam's meeting with the leadership of Oxford University and his important speech there. The General Secretary shared that Vietnam has chosen a very clear direction: science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and the knowledge economy will be the main drivers of growth in the coming period. Vietnam is strongly promoting its national digital transformation strategy, developing the digital economy, green economy, circular economy, and low-carbon economy; considering innovation not just as a purely scientific laboratory, but as the lifeblood of the economy, national competitiveness, and the ability to withstand geopolitical and geoeconomic shocks. Vietnam considers the UK not only a trade partner, an educational partner, and a science and technology partner, but a long-term strategic partner to jointly shape the standards of cooperation in the 21st century.

The General Secretary stated that both sides need a new, practical, measurable model of cooperation that directly benefits the people of both countries. This involves combining the strengths of the UK in basic science, applied science, high technology, biomedical science, public health, higher education, urban management, energy transition, and financial services with Vietnam's needs for digital transformation, green transformation, improving the quality of human resources, innovating development governance, and perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy institutions.

During meetings with UK businesses, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the Party, State, and People of Vietnam are committed to always "standing alongside" and hope to continue receiving the support and close cooperation of international friends and partners, with foreign investors, especially British investors, acting as a bridge and facilitator in the process of national construction and development.

Upon arriving in the United Kingdom, General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly, along with the high-level Vietnamese delegation, laid a wreath at the tomb of the leader of the proletariat, Karl Marx, at Highgate Cemetery in London, expressing their respect for the great philosopher and theorist of scientific socialism.

General Secretary To Lam and his wife spent time having a cordial meeting with the Vietnamese community living, studying, and working in the United Kingdom, along with representatives of associations and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy. This demonstrated the great concern of the Party and State for the Vietnamese community abroad, strengthened national unity, and encouraged the community to continue to uphold patriotism, actively integrate into the local society, and remain connected to the homeland.

Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung emphasized that in the coming period, the two countries will focus on promoting proposals and initiatives in cooperation, combining the UK's strengths in developing international financial centers, innovation, telecommunications, sustainable energy transition, high technology, biomedical science, etc., with Vietnam's needs for digital transformation, green transformation, improving the quality of human resources, and reforming development governance; strengthening connectivity and close coordination in international and regional forums to contribute to peace, stability, and development in the regions and the world.

Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung stated that measures should be implemented to enhance the effectiveness of important aspects of work in other areas such as cultural exchange and work related to the Vietnamese community in the UK, thereby further promoting the role of these areas in fostering friendship, understanding, and an increasingly deep and lasting foundation for cooperation between Vietnam and the UK.

The visit is one of Vietnam's important foreign affairs activities in 2025, helping to affirm the significance of Vietnam-UK relations within the overall foreign policy of each country, especially in the context of today's volatile and challenging world.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-vuong-quoc-anh-dinh-hinh-cac-chuan-muc-hop-tac-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-20251031162323953.htm