Viet Nam, UK forge cooperation in various fields
The UK’s Minister for Investment Lord Gerry Grimstone has expressed his interest in trade and investment promotion between Viet Nam and the UK to open the door for goods and services of the two countries.
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| Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long (left) and the UK’s Minister for Investment Lord Gerry Grimstone. (Photo: VNA) |
At a working with Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long in London on January 26, Grimstone spoke highly of Viet Nam’s economic achievements and potential.
He suggested the two countries intensify mutual understanding and trust building following post-pandemic opening, contributing to enhancing their bilateral cooperation.
The two sides reached consensus on cooperation priorities in the coming years, with a focus on such areas as green trade, finance and transformation, renewable energy, education and tourism.
For his part, Long said the Viet Nam-UK strategic partnership is at its best ever and the UK-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) is opening up new opportunities and bringing pragmatic interests to businesses and people of both sides.
Two-way trade hit 6.6 billion USD last year, up more than 17 percent year-on-year, he said, adding that the UK is an early investor in Viet Nam, mainly in oil and gas, insurance, banking and education, with total capital amounting to over 4 billion USD.
The diplomat expressed his belief that the bilateral collaboration, particularly in trade, investment and tourism, will grow further in the time ahead, and affirmed that Viet Nam backs the UK’s joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Long used the occasion to ask the minister to help Viet Nam connect with the UK’s agencies, organisations and enterprises from the central to grassroots levels to promote cooperation opportunities as well as strength of each side.
The ambassador said he believes that Grimstone will make more contributions to the bilateral relations, especially in the implementation of the UKVFTA and Viet Nam’s fulfillment of commitments announced at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the UK, last November.
On January 25, Long met with UK Minister of State for Defense Annabel Goldie who lauded Viet Nam’s contributions to UN peacekeeping operations and expressed her belief that the country’s peacekeeping forces will further grow in the time ahead.
Recalling her trip to Viet Nam in 2019, Goldie said she hopes to come back Viet Nam.
Long said Viet Nam and the UK have optimal conditions to step up cooperation across spheres, including security-national defence – a pillar of their strategic partnership.
He suggested Goldie continue to support Viet Nam in developing peacekeeping forces, and facilitate the delegation exchange between the two defence ministries to promote programmes and projects on security and defence cooperation.
Goldie thanked Viet Nam for supporting the UK to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and expressed her hope for stronger ties between the UK and Viet Nam as well as ASEAN.
She affirmed her support for Viet Nam’s stance and viewpoint on the East Sea issue and stressed the spirit of respect to the rule of the law and the observance of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS).
Goldie expressed her willingness to assist Viet Nam in training in terms of international law and peacekeeping, and boost delegation exchange and cooperation in strategic research.
(Source: VNA)
