Vietnam, UK should resume exchange of delegations soon

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung had a telephone conversation with Minister for Asia at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Nigel Adams to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Hannah Nguyen

ngminhphuong26@gmail.com March 05, 2021 | 18:49

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Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and Minister for Asia at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Nigel Adams shared pleasure at the positive and comprehensive growth of the Vietnam-UK relationship during their phone talks on March 4.

According to VNA, they noted that last year, the two sides issued a joint statement on the elevation of the bilateral strategic partnership to a higher level in the next decade, as well as signing the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Both officials expressed their belief that the bilateral ties will further develop in the time to come.

Minister Nigel Adams congratulated Vietnam on successfully performing its role as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and thanked Vietnam for its support to the UK in strengthening relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while lauding Vietnam’s role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure and its efforts in responding to climate change and switching to green energy for sustainable development.

He affirmed that the UK will continue to work closely with Vietnam in responding to climate change and transitioning to clean energy for sustainable development.

Deputy Minister Dung congratulated the UK on its important achievements in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, especially its leading the way in Europe and the world in deploying vaccinations.

He expressed his hope that the UK will share experience in vaccinations with Vietnam, and create more favourable conditions for the country in the next rounds of vaccine supply.

Shrimp processed for export to the UK. Photo: VNA

He held that the two sides should resume the exchange of delegations soon and effectively implement key cooperation mechanisms, including the strategic dialogue on security-defence, thus creating new momentum for the bilateral strategic partnership in the areas of politics-diplomacy, trade, investment, development cooperation, security-defence, culture, education, health care, science-technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

In addition, the two sides also discussed a number of regional issues of shared concern, and agreed to work closely together in a bid to ensure the success of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which will be hosted by the UK in late 2021.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that total trade in goods between the two nations topped 657.35 million USD in January, a year-on-year hike of 78.57 percent.

Notably, Vietnam’s shipment to the European country hit 598.07 million USD, or 84.61 percent higher than the same time last year, and 56.51 percent higher than December 2020. Exports of agricultural products maintained stable growth in the month, with export revenue of seafood surging 18.1 percent to 19.72 million USD, and fruits and vegetables rising 148.6 percent to 1.04 million USD.

Meanwhile, Vietnam spent 59.297 million USD on imports from the UK, up 34.3 percent year-on-year.

Last year, total trade value between the two nations reached 5.64 billion USD, with Vietnam posting positive trade balance of 4.27 billion USD. The UK continued to be the third largest trade partner of Vietnam in Europe, just following Germany and the Netherlands.

As of December 2020, the UK registered 3.84 billion USD in 411 projects in Vietnam, becoming the 15th biggest investor among 139 countries and territories landing investment in the nation. Most of the UK’s projects were in finance, banking, oil and renewable energy.

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Hannah Nguyen