Receiving UK Prince Andrew, Duke of York, in Hanoi on September 24, NA Chairman Hung showed his pleasure at the developing strategic partnership between Vietnam and the UK, particularly in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, and education-training.

 He took the occasion to thank the UK Royal Family, Parliament, Government and people for supporting Vietnam over the past years, especially their official development assistance (ODA) to help Vietnam realise its socio-economic development policy.

 He suggested the UK Government maintain ODA for Vietnam in the fields of climate change, green technology, scientific research, and education-training.

 For his part, Prince Andrew said he is pleased to return to Vietnam after three years and witness positive changes in the country’s socio-economic development.

 Hailing the effective strategic partnership between Vietnam and the UK, the Prince recommended the two Governments set specific goals for developing bilateral cooperation by 2015 and beyond, particularly in education, scientific research and technology.

 He said he hopes that the two Parliaments will further tighten cooperation and exchanges between parliamentarians, thus enhancing the bond between the two governments and peoples.

 The same day, Prince Andrew was also received by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who affirmed that the Vietnamese State and Government always treasure and create favourable conditions for enterprises from the UK to make long-term investment in Vietnam on the ground of equality and mutual benefit.

 He praised the UK as Vietnam’s potential investor with many of its business players operating effectively in the country, adding that the two countries targets 4 billion USD in two-way trade and 3 billion USD in UK foreign direct investment in Vietnam this year.

 Prince Andrew noted that Vietnam and the UK should further boost their cooperation in the future, especially in education.

 He described the British Council’s long-term English training programmes and the upcoming debut of the Vietnam-UK University as important foundations for bilateral educational cooperation to thrive.

VNA