Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hoped that Vietnam’s trade, investment, and defence-security cooperation with the UK will be growing strongly following the visit by Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox

Meeting the UK official in Hanoi on February 23, the PM pledged that Vietnam will create optimal conditions for UK businesses and investors during their operation in Vietnam, proposing the two countries beef up their cooperation for a goal of doubling the current two-way trade of over 5.6 billion USD by 2020.

He urged the UK to help speed up the official enactment of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, suggesting both studying a new trade pact suitable to post-Brexit situation.

He said Vietnamese enterprises want to strengthen partnerships with their UK peers, who have strong capacity, experiences and technologies.

He hoped that the UK will continue supporting Vietnam to train high-quality human resources and teach English, and facilitate Vietnamese students’ study there.

He lauded the effective operation of the British Council in Vietnam, wishing it more success in the future.

He said he expected the UK Government will make it easier for more than 70,000 Vietnamese who are living and studying in the country.  

He also expressed his pleasure to see the increasing number of UK tourists to Vietnam.

For his part, Fox highlighted the cooperation between Vietnam and the UK in multiple fields, including corruption prevention and fighting, administrative reform.

He reiterated that the UK, after Brexit, still looks to strengthen economic cooperation with other nations by enhancing its investment overseas and ensuring free trade.

He underlined cooperation potential for the two nations, particularly in commercial airplane purchase, education and training, and national defence and security.

The two nations should foster their strategic partnership in other fields, he added.

The UK pledged to support Vietnam’s socio-economic development, he said, adding that this contributes to the UK’s prosperity.

He expressed his hope that the two Governments will work closely together, in which the Vietnam – UK Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation is the tool to promote bilateral investment and trade exchanges.

UK sees Vietnam as important trade partner

Visiting UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox stated that the UK considers Vietnam as an important and promising trade partner at a working session with Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh in Hanoi on February 23.

Fox affirmed that the UK hopes to forge stronger multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam which ranks 38th out of the UK’s 241 trade partners in 2015.

Minister Anh said that Vietnam highly values the position and role of the UK in its bilateral relations, as well as important contributions of the UK as a political, economic, culture, science and technology centre of the world.

He expressed his belief that the UK and Vietnam will boost their ties in a sustainable, practical and intensive manner.

According to the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam-UK relationship has been growing with sound political-diplomatic ties.

Bilateral affiliation in economy and trade has progressed, especially after the two countries signed their strategic partnership. Vietnam is the 25th largest exporter among 233 to the UK. Vietnam ranks second in ASEAN after Thailand in export revenue in the UK as it accounts for 0.8 percent of total imports of the European country.

At the same time, the UK is the third largest EU country in terms of import-export revenue with Vietnam. 

In 2016, two-way trade value reached 5.62 billion USD, a rise of 4.34 percent from a year ago, with Vietnam’s exports hitting 4.9 billion USD and imports, 717.2 million USD.

Major Vietnamese products shipped to the UK include footwear and accessories, seafood, electronics, apparels, and fabrics.

VNA