Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, affirmed that Britain will continue providing ODA to Vietnam in the coming time, particularly in response to climate change and rising sea levels.

The Prince made the affirmation at his meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi on October 5 during his fourth visit to Vietnam .

Prince Andrew reasserted the British Government’s support for Vietnam in enhancing all-around cooperation with the European Union, with a primary focus on the economy.

According to the Prince, the UK officially asked the European Commission not to renew its anti-dumping duties against Vietnamese leather shoes exported to the EU.

The Duke of York, who is a special representative of the British Government on trade and international investment, spoke highly of Vietnam ’s achievements in socio-economic development in 2009 despite the negative impact of the global economic crisis.

The Prince expressed his delight at the news that the UK continues to be Vietnam ’s leading economic partner in the EU and the world, with two-way trade hitting over 2 billion USD and UK direct investment in Vietnam reaching 2 billion USD in 2009.

The two countries agreed to raise the value of two-way trade to 3 billion USD and UK FDI provided to Vietnam to 3 billion USD in the years to come.

Prince Andrew praised the operations of the UK-Vietnam Joint Economic and Trade Committee.

He thanked the Vietnamese Government for agreeing to grant new regulations on the operations of the British Council in Vietnam to enable the two countries to increase educational and cultural cooperation in the coming time.

He pledged to work harder for the promotion of friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries in the future.

PM Dung warmly welcomed the British Prince, saying that it is particularly significant at a time when Vietnam-UK cooperation is growing in a positive and all-sided manner, especially in the fields of politics and diplomacy, trade and investment, as well as cooperation in development and education and training.

PM Dung reaffirmed Vietnam ’s consistent policy of developing friendship and all-around cooperation with the UK into a partnership for joint development and long-term, mutual benefit based on the spirit of the Joint Declaration of the two countries’ Prime Ministers issued in 2008.

He also reasserted that Vietnam will provide the best conditions it can for British businesspeople in Vietnam to ensure that benefits can be shared by both sides.

The Vietnamese PM thanked Prince Andrew for conveying the British Government and Royal Family’s sympathies to the families of victims of typhoon Ketsana in Vietnam .

According to the schedule for his four-day visit, Prince Andrew met with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc. He also opened the third meeting of the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee./.