as part of his trip for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and a working visit to the UK.

Signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries' enterprises.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and witnessed a ceremony to sign 26 cooperation agreements between ministries, sectors and businesses of Vietnam and the United Kingdom (UK) on October 31 (London time) as part of his trip for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and a working visit to the UK.

The agreements cover a wide range of fields from trade, agriculture, energy, education, training to environmental protection and sports.

The 26 agreements included a Letter of Intent to join the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, an Agreement on Cooperation to develop an action plan to strengthen linkages between the two countries’ higher education institutions, a Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation in education through exchange of experiences and best strategic aspects, and a Cooperation Agreement to develop human resource training programmes for the Ministry of Planning and Investment and support start-ups of Vietnam.

Signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries' enterprises.

Notably, Vietjet Air and Rolls-Royce Group signed an agreement to provide engines and engine services for the wide-body fleet with a total value of 400 million USD, SOVICO Group and Oxford University signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate and finance investment in research and education development with a total value of 155 million GBP (212 million USD), and Affinity Investment Fund and HDBank reached a grant of 300 million USD for the programme on sustainable development and climate change combat.

The signed agreements, the total value of which amounts to billions of US dollars in various fields, demonstrate the strongly developing Vietnam-UK relations.

PM meets Vietnamese community in UK

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met Vietnamese community in the UK on October 31 (local time), as part of his ongoing European trip.

Representatives from the community expressed hope that the Vietnamese Government will continue to creating favourable conditions for them to make contributions in brainpower and resources to the homeland's development.

PM Chinh affirmed that the about 100,000-strong Vietnamese community in the UK has helped foster the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the UK.

The Government leader hailed the Vietnamese community in the UK for promoting solidarity and well integrating into the host country’s society despite impacts of COVID-19. The Party and State share the difficulties that the community has faced amid the pandemic, he stated.

He said he hopes overseas Vietnamese in the UK will strengthen their solidarity to overcome difficulties, while abiding by the law of the host country and promoting the image of the nation and people of Vietnam to foreign friends, thus contributing to the development of the homeland.

Briefing the community on the situation in Vietnam and the country’s external policies, the PM underscored that the Party and State always pay great attention to and consider overseas Vietnamese an indispensable part of the nation and a resource of the country, as well as an important factor contributing to the partnership and friendship between Vietnam and other countries.

Any Vietnamese, living inside or outside the country, is treated equally in the same way, he stressed./.

PM’s trip to display Vietnam’s sense of responsibility towards climate change

The trip to the UK by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and visit this country will be a chance for Vietnam to show its responsible engagement in settling global climate change challenges and enhance the strategic partnership with the UK.

As Vietnam is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, the Party and State have always prioritised climate change response during socio-economic development.

The PM’s participation in the COP26 is an occasion for the country to demonstrate its responsible, proactive, and active participation in settling global climate change challenges, while helping the international community understand its policy, determination, and efforts, as well as the difficulties and challenges facing the country in response to the phenomenon.

This is also a rare chance amid the COVID-19 pandemic for leaders of countries to increase bilateral activities. Within the COP26 framework, PM Chinh is set to have meetings with leaders of some countries, international organisations, and important partners.

The Government leader of Vietnam will also pay a working visit to the UK.

The two countries set up a strategic partnership in 2010 and have cooperated closely and effectively with each other when Vietnam served as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2008 - 2009 and 2020 - 2021.

Vietnam ranks 38th among the 241 trade partners of and 25th among the 233 countries exporting to the UK, which in turn is the third largest European trade partner of the Southeast Asian nation.

The two sides officially signed the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), developed basing on the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), in London on December 29, 2020. This deal is hoped to create a comprehensive, long-term, and stable framework for bilateral economic and trade ties.

They have also worked closely with each other in various areas, including defence - security, human trafficking combat, democracy and human rights issues, development cooperation, education - training, and science - technology.

Regarding COVID-19 response, the British Government presented 415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Vaccine JSC signed a contract with the AstraZeneca group to purchase 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in November 2020. Nearly 15 million vaccine doses under this contract had arrived in Vietnam as of September 27.

On August 21, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son sent letters to British Foreign and Development Secretary Dominic Raab and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, asking for the provision of as-many-as-possible continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines for Vietnam.

The UK is also expected to recognise the COVID-19 vaccination certificate of Vietnam in the time ahead.

Vietnam, UK boost education cooperation

The Plan of Action on tertiary education between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and Wales authorities in Edinburgh city, Scotland was exchanged on October 31.

The exchange, conducted by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc and Chair of the Higher Education Funding Council of Wales Rod Humphreys, took place within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow from October 31-November 3.
  
Accordingly, both sides will enhance cooperation between tertiary education establishments to develop affiliation programmes with degrees and joint research; give priority to the exchange of students, lecturers, researchers and education officials, provide scholarships, and hold training courses and seminars on professional expertise.

The plan also focuses on policy dialogue and sharing of practical experience via diplomatic and sightseeing activities, training and consultation programmes.

The same day, Deputy Minister Phuc and Director of British Council Charlie Walker signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on education cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Training and the British Council.

The MoU focuses on building cooperation and partnerships in tertiary education governance, innovation, transfer of knowledge, improvement of research capacity, exchange of students and lecturers, and scientific training and research.

According to the document, the British Council will seek cooperation opportunities in quality accreditation and development of training courses in Vietnam, contributing to mutual recognition of certificates and exchange of students and lecturers in Vietnam and the UK.

It will also help Vietnam launch the national qualification framework and build criteria for training courses in various fields, improve the capacity of lecturers, and assess the efficiency of high schools, colleges and universities.

Priority will also be given to improving the capacity of English teaching in Vietnam’s education system, sharing experience with policymakers, education managers and lecturers to meet requirements of global integration in line with the national foreign language scheme.

On the occasion, Phuc also held a roundtable session on education collaboration with Walker and Humphreys.

Source: VNA

PM Pham Minh Chinh's trip to Europe and Vietnam’s responsibility for global issues

Attendance at COP26 has been a good opportunity for Vietnam to express its views on climate change, and to affirm its determination to contribute responsibly to global efforts.