Hanoi (VNA) – Party General Secretary To Lam received British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew at the Party Central Committee’s headquarters in Hanoi on the afternoon of October 17.
During the meeting, General Secretary Lam expressed his pleasure at the positive development of bilateral relations in recent years. He affirmed that bilateral relations have developed in a substantive and effective manner across all fields, matching the Vietnam – UK Strategic Partnership. He highly appreciated the ambassador’s role and contributions to strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
He noted that there remains great potential for further development in relations between the two countries, particularly in the fields of defence and security, finance and banking, education and training, science and technology, labour, energy transition and climate change response. He especially highlighted culture, sports and people-to-people exchanges as areas that have paved the way for cooperation in other sectors.
He affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam attach great importance to and give special attention to deepening and advancing the Vietnam–UK Strategic Partnership to a new stage of development, meeting the aspirations of the people of both nations, and contributing to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.
Both sides emphasised the significance of economic, trade and investment cooperation as a key pillar of the partnership. The UK is currently one of Vietnam’s major trading partners in Europe and ranks 15th among 152 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam is the UK’s second-largest trading partner within ASEAN.
Ambassador Iain Frew expressed his delight at the strong progress in bilateral ties, particularly as the two countries celebrate the 15th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership. He reaffirmed that the UK values the development of its Strategic Partnership with Vietnam and considers the country one of its most important partners in the region.
The diplomat showed his belief that upcoming high-level delegation exchanges between the two countries will serve as a strong driving force to elevate bilateral cooperation to new heights, particularly in the fields of defence and security, science and technology, innovation, international financial centre development, green growth, sustainable development, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to continued close coordination in bilateral and multilateral frameworks, particularly within the United Nations, and to jointly promoting peace, stability, security and cooperation in the region. They agreed to make the Vietnam – UK Strategic Partnership deeper and more effective manner, in line with the shared interests of both nations./.
