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| UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague and Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, sign the Strategic Partnership Declaration in London on Wednesday - Photo: Courtesy of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
HCMC - The United Kingdom and Vietnam have entered a new era of strategic partnership following the signing of a joint declaration by Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and his UK counterpart.
Khiem and UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague signed the Strategic Partnership Declaration on Wednesday in London during the UK visit by Khiem, who is also deputy prime minister, the British embassy in Hanoi said in a statement released on Thursday.
The strategic partnership elevates cooperation in both global and regional issues, as well as in bilateral relationships in areas of trade and investment, sustainable socio-economic development, education and training, science and technology, security and defense, and people-to-people links.
“Friday’s agreement with Vietnam is yet another example of the UK’s commitment to pursuing an active foreign policy with emerging powers around the world,” Hague was quoted as saying upon the signing. He stressed the agreement was a real boost for British businesses looking to invest in Vietnam.
The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) said the UK was Vietnam’s third largest EU investor with investments worth around US$2.2 billion and a top investor in the financial service sector in this market. The opening up of other sectors will attract more UK investors to Vietnam, notably in the retail and telecom areas.
The UK now looks to the signing of an EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement as a landmark for companies from the region to gain greater access to Vietnam, according to the UKTI.
The UK has categorized trade and investment as one of its main focuses on Vietnam and is committed to promoting a strong trade relationship with this emerging country as it is one of the UK’s priority markets.
The evidence is that the UK has only five UK-Vietnam Joint Economic and Trade Committees (JETCO) around the world and one of which is with Vietnam. The JETCO plays an important role in enhancing investment and trade links between the two countries.
The UKTI said two-way trade between the UK and Vietnam was expanding fast, and exceeded 1.2 billion British pounds last year, or over US$1.8 billion, with exports to Vietnam experiencing a 25% year-on-year increase.
British ambassador to Vietnam Mark Kent, who accompanied the delegation, said in the statement that the UK-Vietnam relationship had expanded rapidly since Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the UK in March 2008.
“The Strategic Partnership Declaration shows the breadth and the depth of our cooperation. The UK is looking to engage more with countries in South East Asia. We see many opportunities to build links between the peoples and enterprises of both countries.”
At their meeting in London, Khiem and Hague discussed ways to heighten cooperation in existing areas and to expand into new ones.
On Friday, Khiem is scheduled to deliver his speech at the opening of the “Opportunities and policy for investment in infrastructure in Vietnam” seminar, which is aimed to promote the expertise of the UK as a provider of public-private partnership (PPP) solutions.
Also on the agenda of the Deputy Prime Minister are discussions on commercial interests in his meetings with ministers and airport authorities.
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