Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn welcomes Secretary of State for Scotland of the United Kingdom Alister Jack. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Tuesday for UK Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack.

At the meeting, Sơn proposed the two countries continue stepping up delegation exchanges, effectively implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, maintaining close cooperation at multilateral forums, and encouraging UK enterprises, including those from Scotland, to invest in finance, science-technology, innovation, green transformation and energy transition in Việt Nam.

He congratulated the UK on officially joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and appreciated its role in promoting the building of the Just Energy Transition Partnership framework between Việt Nam and international partners. He suggested the UK continue to support Việt Nam in building institutions and policies; boost human resources training and technology transfer in the process of green transformation and sustainable development; and strengthen collaboration in education and training, including joint training cooperation with Scottish universities.

Agreeing with the Vietnamese minister’s proposals, Alister Jack affirmed that the UK will maintain support for Việt Nam to respond to climate change and develop renewable energy and green finance.

Việt Nam is an important partner of the UK in the region and the two countries have high political trust, he added.

Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, the two ministers agreed that ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the sea plays an important role for peace and prosperous development of the region and the world; and that all disputes need to be solved peacefully through dialogues, and on the basis of compliance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. — VNS