The UK is now one of Vietnam’s leading trade partners within the European Union. Two-way trade increased to US$5.4 billion in 2015, from US$1.7 billion five years earlier. UK investors poured US$4.6 billion into 216 projects in Vietnam in the five year period.
In the coming period, both sides will work to realise priorities agreed by their leaders during UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Vietnam in July last year, which will focus on links in politics-strategy, defence-security, trade-investment, development, education-training, culture, science-technology, and labour, he noted.
The Vietnamese official called on UK investors to take more actions to catch and take full advantage of opportunities in Vietnam’s integration process , especially when t he EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are approved and take effect.
During his talks, Son also answered questions on Vietnam’s contributions to the UN’s peacekeeping activities and East Sea-related issues. He said he hopes the UK will continue to make more contributions to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, including promoting the settlement of disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law.
On the same day, the Deputy Foreign Minister had a meeting with representatives from the Vietnam-UK Network, during which he expressed his thank to British friends for their efforts to deepen bilateral relations.
