The bilateral relations between Vietnam and the U.K. have been strengthened on all aspects of politics, trade, investment, and development donation, British Ambassador to Vietnam Mark Kent told a reporter of the Communist Party’s Website on January 1.
The visit to the U.K. in March 2008 by Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung and his high-profile talk with PM Gordon Brown in London marked a milestone of the two government’s relationship, through which the two sides agreed together five priority cooperation fields, the ambassador said.
The two countries’ diplomatic relations were afterwards fortified with a series of other visits including trips by the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, John Hutton, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw, and Duke of York Prince Andrew; exchange of delegations between the two sides’ parties and parliaments.
Regarding the trade cooperation, the U.K. has become Vietnam’s biggest investor among EU nations, with a total capital of US$2.1 billion.
This year, Ambassador Mark Kent said, the U.K. will continue to work out with the Vietnamese side in aspects of implementing WTO commitments and cutting down some trade barriers. U.K. Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam for the agenda next month, Ambassador Kent said.
The U.K. ambassador also expressed his pleasure to the bilateral cooperation in education and training over the past year. There have had 60 universities of the U.K. sent working delegations to Vietnam to set up official relations as well as joined hands to open associative courses.
Last year, the Apollo University in Vietnam officially opened on the cooperative framework with University of London and Staffordshire.
Ambassador Kent said he wants to strengthen the cooperation between the U.K. business community in Vietnam and the education sector and focus on fields of information and technology, financial management and industrial mechanics.
He also hoped the number of overseas Vietnamese students in the U.K. will increase to over 6,000 people.
In term of the development cooperation, the U.K. has pledge to give an aid of US$73.4 million a year to Vietnam to deal with the existing problem, particularly building a transparent business environment and legal system. (Website of CPV)
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