President Võ Văn Thưởng (third from left), Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyễn Hoàng Long (first from left), had talks with UK House of Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans and UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kemi Badenoch in London. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

LONDON — State President Võ Văn Thưởng had meetings with British leaders as part of his trip to the UK to attend the coronation of King Charles III from May 4 to 6.

The Vietnamese leader met with the UK’s House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, House of Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, among others British officials.

During the meetings, Thưởng rejoiced at positive developments of the Việt Nam-UK strategic partnership in the context that the two countries were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties.

The British officials shared their view on the significance of Thưởng's visit, stressing Việt Nam was a leading partner of the UK in the region as the European nation was accelerating the implementation of its Indo-Pacific strategy.

They also noted with pleasure the dynamic developments of the Việt Nam-UK strategic partnership over the past more than 10 years in all fields, and agreed to continue increasing all-level delegation exchanges in all the channels of Party, State, Government, parliament and people-to-people exchange, while further fully and effectively materialising the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and bilateral cooperation mechanisms like the defence policy dialogue and the Việt Nam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

The two sides expressed their wish to expand and deepen the bilateral cooperation in such potential spheres as national defence-security, green economy, climate change response and renewable energy.

Thưởng suggested the UK help Việt Nam in finance and technology, and raising the country’s capacity within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, towards fulfilling its commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which took place in the UK in 2021.

Regarding cooperation at regional and international forums, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate and support each other in multilateral frameworks like ASEAN-UK cooperation, the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council for 2023-2025, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The British officials affirmed their support for Việt Nam and ASEAN’s stance on the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea), the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China. — VNS