Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyễn Hoàng Long and Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Lindsay Hoyle. — Photo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

LONDON — Việt Nam is an important partner of the UK, especially in the post-Brexit context, Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Lindsay Hoyle told a Vietnamese diplomat.

During a reception for Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyễn Hoàng Long on Tuesday (UK time), Hoyle expressed his delight at Việt Nam’s impressive development achievements, as well as the fruitful development of bilateral relations in recent years, stressing that the two countries are promoting the implementation of the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA). 

He highly valued the role of the National Assembly of Việt Nam as well as the Southeast Asian nation’s contributions at multilateral forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 

He congratulated Việt Nam on the successful completion of its term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in 2020-2021, while praising Việt Nam’s role in ASEAN.

The speaker also affirmed that his country always supports Việt Nam’s position on solving disputes in the South China Sea on the basis of respect for the law. 

For his part, Ambassador Long emphasised that bilateral relations are in the best stage of development and there are many opportunities for the two countries to enhance cooperation across numerous fields. 

The diplomat expressed his belief that trade ties between Việt Nam and the UK will continue to be consolidated, bringing benefits to businesses and people of the two countries.

He suggested that the Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK facilitate the exchange of delegations between the two parliaments in the near future, and assist Việt Nam in effectively implementing the UKVFTA and cooperation projects and programmes, especially in improving the legal capacity, education-training, finance, science and technology, and renewable energy.

Hoyle affirmed his willingness to support Việt Nam and the embassy in deploying activities to promote the friendship and strategic partnership between the two nations, including delegation exchanges and cooperation activities through the parliamentary channel.

The same day, the UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Việt Nam, Cambodia & Laos Graham Stuart also received Ambassador Long, during which the host expressed interest in Việt Nam’s trade and investment promotion activities in the UK market. 

Stuart said that these activities have helped promote opportunities for Vietnamese goods and services in the UK market, as well as strengthen mutual understanding and trust, thus contributing to promoting effective cooperation between the two parties.

The Vietnamese diplomat said the UKVFTA is opening up new opportunities in the field of economy and trade, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people of the two countries. 

Long expressed his belief that trade ties between Việt Nam and the UK will be strongly promoted, affirming that Việt Nam supports the UK’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). 

The two sides agreed on priorities to be promoted in the coming years, including activities to connect partners and businesses of the two countries in areas where the UK has strengths and Việt Nam has great potential for development such as education, finance, renewable energy, and green transition.

Long took the occasion to ask the UK parliamentarian to support Việt Nam in connecting with localities and economic regions of the UK in order to further bolster cooperation opportunities between businesses and localities of the two countries.

According to the ambassador, two-way trade between Việt Nam and the UK rose 17 per cent from 2020 to US$6.6 billion in 2021 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNS