Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyễn Hoàng Long. — VNA/VNS Photo

LONDON — Việt Nam and the United Kingdom have harvested numerous significant achievements over the last 50 years, and their cooperation potential remains huge, said Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyễn Hoàng Long.

Among the cooperation achievements, the most important is setting up frameworks for comprehensive and concrete cooperation in various spheres, he told the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the countries’ diplomatic ties (September 11, 1973 - 2023).

In 2010, they signed a joint statement on establishing a strategic partnership. In 2020, a new joint statement on the strategic partnership was released, identifying seven priority areas: politics-diplomacy, trade-investment-business, sustainable development and growth, education-training and science-technology, defence-security and organised crime fight, people-to-people ties, and international affairs.

The countries also affirmed that they will work to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level in the subsequent 10 years, Long noted.

The ambassador held that bilateral cooperation potential remains huge, particularly in the fields matching the UK’s strength and Việt Nam’s demand.

In terms of trade and investment, he said both economies boast high degrees of openness and complementarity. After Brexi, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, this country wishes to become more connected with the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, Việt Nam should further capitalise on these opportunities and potential, he elaborated.

There is also much cooperation potential in education and science-technology, so it is necessary to maintain and expand scholarship programmes such as Chevening, increase the reception of Vietnamese students in the UK, and boost the Newton Programme Việt Nam.

Regarding climate change fight, at the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, the Vietnamese Government announced the commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. In 2022, the G7 countries, Norway, Denmark, and Việt Nam adopted the Political Declaration on Establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which was a great effort by the parties concerned, including the UK, to mobilise US$15.5 billion for reforming and creating a framework for developing renewable energy in Việt Nam.

Long perceived that this will be an important field of cooperation between the two countries in the future.

To further enhance bilateral relations, the two countries should increase high-level mutual visits to create a new impulse for their ties; continue effectively implementing the signed cooperation frameworks, including the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), the JETP, and cooperation mechanisms in education, science-technology, security, defence; and build and approve detailed action plans to realise their commitments and cooperation priorities in the coming time, he noted.

This year, as the diplomatic ties turn 50, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK is planning to hold 50 events of cultural exchanges, trade and investment promotion, educational cooperation, and people-to-people ties across the European nation, including photo exhibitions on the 50 years of bilateral relations; the Việt Nam Days in London; and the Meet Việt Nam events in Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In particular, the embassy has organised a series of events to revisit the British places where President Hồ Chí Minh used to stay in during his overseas journey to seek ways to save the homeland, according to the diplomat. — VNS