Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (R) and British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Foreign AffairsBui Thanh Son hosted a reception in Hanoi on March 20 for British Ambassador toVietnam Iain Frew, during which he hailed the latter for actively promotingbilateral activities over the past years.
Son said the signing and enforcement of the UK-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement has made the UK the third largest trade partner in Europe andthe ninth largest export market of Vietnam and the most important European investorin the country despite impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He asked Frew to continue facilitating the exchange of all-level delegations,effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms and work closely withVietnamese partners to hold activities celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam-UK diplomatic ties this year.
The host suggested both sides maintain effective cooperation intraditional areas such as trade - investment, education - training, nationaldefence - security while expanding collaboration in new fields where the UK has strength and Vietnam has development priorities such as green growthand climate change adaptation.
Son spoke highly of the UK's role in promoting thebuilding of a Just Energy Transition Partnership framework between Vietnam andinternational partners. He proposed the UK continue assisting Vietnam in termsof experience, technology transfer, green finance and human resourcedevelopment in this field.
Frew, for his part, affirmed that with its policy towards theIndo-Pacific region, the UK attaches great importance to developing its relationswith Vietnam on the basis of political trust, close cooperation at multilateraland regional forums, solid economic relations and rich potential forcooperation in the future, especially in new fields and development trends ofthe world, including sustainable energy transition and climate change response.
To improve the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, the ambassador vowed to work closely with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and otherministries and agencies to build practical cooperation plans in the comingtime./.
