Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that the UK is one of Vietnam's leading economic partners in Europe. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his delight at the recent strong development of the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership in various fields; He hopes that the two countries will work closely to deepen and more effectively the strategic partnership, whereby the two sides will increase the exchange of high-level delegations, improve the effectiveness of key cooperation mechanisms, and promote the current relationship between the two countries. Realize orientations for cooperation in economy-trade-investment, development cooperation, education and training, science-technology, defense-security, people-to-people exchange.

The Prime Minister affirmed that the UK is one of the leading economic partners of Vietnam in Europe. The two countries need to cooperate more closely to maximize opportunities from the UKVFTA bilateral Free Trade Agreement; suggested that Britain further open the market for Vietnamese exports, and at the same time encourage British businesses to expand investment in Vietnam, especially in potential fields, such as financial-banking services, oil and gas, renewable energy, digital economy, processing and manufacturing industries, and etc. The Prime Minister also asked the British side to continue to support and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community and overseas students in the UK to work, study and live.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his sincere thanks to the British Government and people for supporting 415,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam. The Prime Minister wished that the two countries would continue to promote cooperation in the health sector, especially in improving healthcare capacity and developing the pharmaceutical industry; suggested the UK continue to provide vaccines and medical equipment, consider transferring technologies for vaccine production, and providing drugs to treat COVID-19.

British Ambassador Gareth Ward highly appreciated Vietnam's epidemic prevention and control efforts, firmly believing that Vietnam will safely adapt, flexibly and effectively control the COVID-19 epidemic, soon recover and develop its society-economy; The British side contributed 10% to the COVAX Mechanism and pledged to continue promoting vaccine distribution to Vietnam through this mechanism, while supporting medical equipment and developing the pharmaceutical industry.

British Ambassador Gareth Ward emphasized that the British Government considers Vietnam an important partner in the region. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

British Ambassador Gareth Ward expressed his delight at the outstanding development of the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership over the past 10 years; emphasized that the British Government considers Vietnam an important partner in the region. The Ambassador highly appreciated the cooperation between the two countries in multilateral forums; expressed appreciation for Vietnam's enthusiastic support, helping the UK become a full dialogue partner of ASEAN.

Ambassador Gareth Ward said that he will coordinate with domestic agencies to encourage British businesses to expand their investment in Vietnam to take full advantage of the potentials and benefits of the UKVFTA; Emphasizing that the UK is willing to cooperate and help Vietnam transition to clean energy and access green finance to develop renewable energy projects.

The British Ambassador also agreed with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's proposal to strengthen cooperation in the fields of education-training, public administration; He affirmed that the UK will continue to support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources, increase government scholarships for Vietnamese students, strengthen joint research and teaching programs, and digital transformation in education.

Regarding the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) held in the UK in early November 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam supports and works closely with the UK to contribute to the success of the conference, demonstrating Vietnam's initiative, positivity and responsibility in the common issues of the international community. The British Ambassador affirmed his willingness to cooperate with Vietnam in coordination with the international community to protect water sources, biodiversity and ensure livelihoods for people in the Mekong Delta.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the British Ambassador emphasized the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation, aviation, security and peace in the East Sea, peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of compliance with international law especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982).

ctngoc