UK Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew. (Photo: VNA) Following is the full text of the interview.
Reporter: As the year2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-UK diplomatic ties, how do youassess cooperation achievements so far and what are prospects for the bilateralrelations in 2024 and beyond?
Ambassador Iain Frew: We have been celebrating this veryimportant anniversary 50 years of diplomatic relationship between the UK andVietnam. And as we do that, we've looked back at some of the really importantachievements in the relationship over these 50 years.
A key one was the agreementof our strategic partnership 13 years ago, which we renewed three years ago andthat strategic partnership covers a broad range of areas of cooperation. Withinthat, we have been celebrating throughout the year the ties in trade, educationand sustainability in particular.
Now, this year, we've seen arange of high-level political visits. We've had the visit from our Secretary ofState for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We've had visits from theSecretary of State for Scotland, and a range of other ministers on trade andforeign affairs, and defence. And we've also seen this year the very importantvisit of President Vo Van Thuong to the UK for the coronation of King CharlesIII and I think that shows the level of trust and the importance of thepolitical relationship.
Now, we've also been workingon some really concrete areas of cooperation. I'm proud to say that our tradeties have increased significantly. We have seen trade going up last year by 29%to 6.9 billion GBP (8.72 billion USD). And that comes alongside UK and Vietnamhaving agreed a free trade agreement two years ago and this year, withVietnam’s support, the UK joining the CPTPP trade agreement.
Alongside that we've seensome real progress on our education cooperation. There are now about 11,000Vietnamese students studying in the UK. I'm really pleased to see the tiesgrowing between schools and universities in technical and vocational education.We all know that education is something that every Vietnamese family cares about,and that the UK has a lot to offer in terms of partnership.
I'm increasingly valuing therelationship and the developing importance of how we work together on securitytogether. And we've seen this year the visit of the Royal Navy ship to Ho ChiMinh City. We've seen increasing cooperation in areas like maritime security,and looking ahead to how we work together on defence modernisation.
Reporter: The UKconcluded negotiations to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 31and signed the Protocol ofAccession on July 16. What will the agreement affect the bilateral trade ties,along with the UK- Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA)?
Ambassador Iain Frew: We are delighted that Vietnam wasthe host for the final round of the negotiations for the UK to join the CPTPPagreement in full court. With that agreement for the UK to join, I think thatadds another layer to what is already a very productive and very strong traderelationship.
The UK-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement provides a very strong basis. Over the past two years, we've seentrade increasing on the basis of that. What CPTPP adds is another layer inspecific areas where we will see tariffs liberalised. For example, we're goingto see an increased rice quota for Vietnamese exporters to the UK. We're alsogoing to see further opportunities and other agricultural products. And somevery specific areas like chocolate is one of the areas that will be liberalisedin which I'm very pleased about. At the same time, I think we're going to seeour trade expanding into other areas and CPTPP will underpin that.
Finally, I think that CPTPPis an agreement for the future. So it's partly about what we're getting now.It's also about how we together develop this trade bloc. With the UK joining,it's no longer just a Pacific agreement. It's a global agreement. That meansit's going to be setting standards for the future. And the UK and Vietnam aregoing to be helping to shape the rules of world trade for the next generation.
Reporter: Vietnam PrimeMinister Pham Minh Chinh on December 1, 2023 announced a Resource MobilisationPlan to implement the political declaration on establishing a Just EnergyTransition Partnership (JETP) between Vietnam and the International PartnershipGroup (IPG). How do you evaluate Vietnam’s efforts in energy transition and theVietnam-UK cooperation in this field?
Ambassador Iain Frew: The commitment that Vietnam andPrime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made at COP 26 in Glasgow to net zero by 2050 isan ambitious and very important demonstration of Vietnam's leadership onclimate. And we've seen that over the past two years, deepen and continue.
The commitment to net zerohas been followed up by the establishment of a steering committee at thenational level. Last year, Vietnam updated its nationally determinedcontribution, which is the commitment that every country makes to reduceemissions over time. It also issued its national climate change strategy. SoVietnam has made some important steps forward. And this year, we've seenprogress on the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). This is theagreement between the G7 countries and Vietnam to support and underpinVietnam's green energy transition with investments in 15.5 billion USD of financingwith technology and technical assistance.
At the same time, Vietnam ismaking regulatory changes and creating the right framework so that the energygrid can shift from carbon intensive areas of energy generation like coalthrough to renewables like offshore wind and solar and that transition hasalready begun. But the JETP is going to really help to speed that up.
I'm delighted that at ourCOP28, we have seen Prime Minister Chinh launch this resource mobilisationplan, which is the next step in the JETP. That is going to help to unlock thatinvestment. And we need to work together further. The UK is one of thecolleagues on the JETP here in Vietnam together with the EU. We're going towork for the long term, committed together for this difficult but veryimportant task of energy transition.
Reporter: Vietnam’sTraditional New Year (Tet) is approaching. How do you feel about the Tetatmosphere in the country?
Ambassador Iain Frew: I come from part of the UK -Scotland - with very specific New Year traditions. Some of those around saygoodbye to the old year by opening your door and sweeping it out, and some ofthe traditions of welcoming in the New Year with your family and yourneighbours are very strong. So I recognise a real connection to the Tet traditionsin Vietnam. Last year was my first time here, and I really enjoyed all of thetraditions and the feeling that is generated by the Tet holiday. There's acelebration, a joy, a unity of family. You can see when you walk out on thestreets the blossoms and the care that people have taken to decorate and tocelebrate the New Year. So I'm excited to go into the new Tet and enjoy thosetraditions again. Last year, I was taught how to make Banh Chung and practisedcalligraphy, so I'm looking forward to learning some new skills andunderstanding more deeply some of Vietnam's traditions in the New Year.
Reporter: Thank you for yourinterview./.
