General Secretary To Lam and spouse to visit the UK and Northern Ireland
WVR - General Secretary To Lam and his spouse Ngo Phuong Ly will visit the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30, 2025.
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| General Secretary To Lam and his spouse will visit the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30, 2025. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
At the invitation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his spouse, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay an official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from October 28-30, according to an announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vietnam and the UK established diplomatic relations on September 11, 1973. In September 2010, the two countries signed a Joint Declaration on establishing the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership. By September 30, 2020, both sides issued a new Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership with seven priority cooperation areas, affirming their intention to elevate the relationship over the next decade.
Recently, Vietnam-UK relations have been increasingly developing. Both sides currently maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the annual Strategic Dialogue at the Deputy Foreign Minister level on a rotational basis; the Defense Policy Dialogue at the Deputy Minister level; the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) sessions; and the Migration Dialogue.
Regarding economic and trade cooperation, the two countries signed the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which officially came into effect on December 31, 2020.
Bilateral trade turnover in 2024 reached 8.424 billion USD, an 18% increase compared to 2023. In the first eight months of 2025, trade turnover reached 6.1 billion USD (up 9.3% compared to the same period in 2024), with exports reaching 5.4 billion USD (up 8.2%) and imports at 630.9 million USD (up 19.8%). Vietnam-UK trade has reached its highest level ever.
In terms of investment, as of the end of August 2025, the UK had nearly 606 active projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of approximately 4.65 billion USD, ranking 15th out of 152 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Vietnam has 16 projects with a total registered capital of over 37.6 million USD.
The UK is one of Vietnam's leading donors. Currently, the UK promotes cooperation activities with Vietnam through its ASEAN cooperation funds, such as the Prosperity Fund, the Newton Fund, and several others...
In education and training cooperation, this is one of the areas the UK focuses on developing with Vietnam. The UK also actively promotes the participation of its leading schools in training links and developing higher education institutions in Vietnam, including Apollo University and the British University in Hanoi, and the Vietnam-UK Research and Training Institute within the University of Da Nang. There are 32 joint training programs between universities and colleges of the two countries. Currently, more than 12,000 Vietnamese students are studying in the UK.
Regarding cooperation in responding to climate change and energy transition: The UK is one of the most active partners with Vietnam in the fields of environment, climate change, and implementing outcomes from the COP26 Conference. At the March 2022 meeting in Germany, G7 Ministers approved the UK's proposal to support a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between the G7 and Vietnam.
Local cooperation between Vietnam and the UK is also increasingly developing, with many projects in infrastructure, innovation, technology, education, and training being signed. The two countries currently have significant potential in semiconductor cooperation.
There are approximately 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 like London, Birmingham, and Manchester...
(Source: MOFA)
