Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung receives UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra
WVR - On the afternoon of June 10, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, Politburo Member and Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung received UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra, during her visit to Vietnam and attend the third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF).
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| Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung and UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra. (Photo: Quang Hoa) |
Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung thanked the UK for sending a high-level representative to attend the ASEAN Future Forum. Expressing delight at the milestone of the 5th anniversary of the ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership, the Minister affirmed Vietnam's support for further strengthening ASEAN-UK relations and emphasized Vietnam's commitment to fulfilling its role as the ASEAN-UK relations coordinator for the 2024-2027 period.
Appreciating the positive developments in bilateral relations, especially since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in October 2025, Minister Le Hoai Trung affirmed that Vietnam always values its relationship with the UK. He noted that there is ample room for cooperation in trade and investment, finance, science and technology, education and training, tourism, green transition, and renewable energy...
Minister Le Hoai Trung suggested that both sides coordinate to boost trade and investment promotion activities, expand market access for each other's goods, aiming to achieve a bilateral trade turnover of 10 billion USD this year. The Minister affirmed that Vietnam is ready to create favorable conditions for British businesses to invest long-term and effectively in Vietnam, especially in strategic infrastructure projects with widespread impact.
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| Minister Le Hoai Trung appreciated the positive strides in bilateral relations recently, emphasizing that Vietnam always values its relationship with the UK and wishes to expand cooperation in potential areas such as trade, investment, science and technology, education, green transition, and renewable energy. |
For her part, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra congratulated Vietnam on successfully organizing the ASEAN Future Forum, appreciating ASEAN's role as well as Vietnam's role within ASEAN, and thanked Vietnam for its positive contributions to promoting ASEAN-UK relations recently. She expressed her admiration for Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements.
Pleased with the positive developments in bilateral relations, especially since the official visit to the UK by General Secretary To Lam in 2025, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra emphasized the desire to further deepen and substantiate UK-Vietnam relations across all fields, including politics, diplomacy, migration, economy, trade, investment, science and technology, education and training, and green growth... She noted that British investors have a keen interest in the Vietnamese market, particularly in the energy and green transition sectors; affirming that the UK will continue to accompany Vietnam in implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), focusing on supporting the completion of the legal framework to attract international private investment.
Both sides agreed to enhance political trust through exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones; to soon develop an Action Plan to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; and to continue to effectively promote bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the Deputy Foreign Minister-level Strategic Dialogue.
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| Overview of the meeting. (Photo: Quang Hoa) |
Both sides also agreed to promote economic cooperation through effectively connecting investment funds, building international financial centers, and cooperating in essential mineral sectors; strengthening coordination to promote global trade.
In the field of education and training, both sides agreed to promote connections between leading experts, research institutes, and educational institutions; aiming to develop programs to support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources in areas where the UK has strengths and Vietnam has needs. The UK side affirmed its readiness to accompany Vietnam in enhancing English language teaching and promoting the goal of making English the second language in Vietnamese schools.
Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides affirmed their continued close coordination in multilateral mechanisms, especially within the framework of the United Nations and ASEAN-UK; emphasizing dialogue, adherence to international law, resolving disputes by peaceful means, ensuring freedom, security, maritime safety, energy security, supply chains, and the legitimate interests of nations, thereby contributing to peace, stability, and development in each region and globally.
