Vietnam important partner of UK: British legislative leader

Vietnam is an important partner of the UK, especially in the post-Brexit context, Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Lindsay Hoyle told a Vietnamese diplomat.

During a reception for Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyen Hoang Long on January 18, Hoyle expressed his delight at Vietnam's impressive development achievements, as well as the fruitful development of the bilateral relations in recent years, stressing that the two countries are promoting the implementation of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

He highly valued the role of the National Assembly of Vietnam as well as the Southeast Asian nation’s contributions at multilateral forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

He congratulated Vietnam on the successful completion of its term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in 2020-202, while praising Vietnam’s role in ASEAN.

The speaker also affirmed that his country always supports Vietnam's position on solving disputes in the East Sea on the basis of respect for law.

For his part, Ambassador Long emphasised that the bilateral relations is in the best stage of development and there are many opportunities for the two countries to enhance cooperation across fields.

The diplomat expressed his belief that trade ties between Vietnam and the UK will continue to be promoted, bringing benefits to businesses and people of the two countries in the coming time.

He suggested that the Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK facilitate the exchange of delegations between the two parliaments in the near future, and assist Vietnam in effectively implementing the UKVFTA and cooperation projects and programmes, especially in improving the legal capacity, education-training, finance, science and technology, and renewable energy.

Hoyle affirmed his willingness to support Vietnam and the embassy in deploying activities to promote the friendship and strategic partnership between the two nations, including delegation exchange and cooperation activities through the parliamentary channel.

The same day, the UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos Graham Stuart also received Ambassador Long, during which the host expressed interest in Vietnam's trade and investment promotion activities in the UK market.

Stuart said that these activities have helped promote opportunities for Vietnamese goods and services in the UK market, as well as strengthen mutual understanding and trust, thus contributing to promoting effective cooperation between the two parties.

The Vietnamese diplomat said the UKVFTA is opening up new opportunities in the field of economy and trade, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people of the two countries.

Long expressed his belief that trade ties between Vietnam and the UK will be strongly promoted in the coming time, affirming that Vietnam supports the UK’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The two sides agreed on priorities to be promoted in the coming years, including activities to connect partners and businesses of the two countries in areas where the UK has strengths and Vietnam has great potential for development such as education, finance, renewable energy, and green transition.

Long took the occasion to ask the UK parliamentarian to support Vietnam in connecting with localities and economic regions of the UK in order to further bolster cooperation opportunities between businesses and localities of the two countries.

According to the ambassador, two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK rose 17 percent from 2020 to 6.6 billion USD in 2021.