UK Ambassador to ASEAN Sarah Tiffin. — VNS Photo Trọng Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has contributed tremendous support when the UK was applying to become a dialogue partner to ASEAN in 2021, British Ambassador to ASEAN Sarah Tiffin has told local media.

She affirmed that Việt Nam has always been a source of constructive engagement and advice for the UK, and a helpful and supportive ASEAN member state as the UK is building its new relationship with the Southeast Asian regional bloc since leaving the European Union.

Next year, Việt Nam will be the coordinator country for ASEAN-UK relations, and the ambassador said the UK is excited to work closely with Việt Nam.

"You will be the country that will hold our hand, and we need some hand holding because we're early in this relationship, and we're still learning," she said, adding that she had no doubt Việt Nam would give advice and guidance on how to best develop the relationship.

This is also a great chance for the "flourishing" ties between Việt Nam and the UK.

"The bilateral relationship appears to be going from strength to strength, which is great. I mean, there's a real buzz about Việt Nam in the UK and everywhere else, this is a very vibrant and exciting country."

The ASEAN-UK Flagship Programme at the moment covers five main areas of development assistance – Promoting Women and Girls' Education in ASEAN (worth more than £30 million over five years), ASEAN-UK Women, Peace, and Security Programme (WPS) (budget £3.2 million in three years), ASEAN-UK Partnership for Global Health Security (£25 million in five years), ASEAN-UK Economic Integration Programme (£25 million in five years), and ASEAN-UK Green Transition Programme (£30 million in five years).

The ambassador said the UK is committed to work with Việt Nam along with other ASEAN members in all of these fields.

The UK also wants to target closing the development gap within ASEAN, especially IAI (Initiative for ASEAN Integration) countries which are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Việt Nam, who joined ASEAN later, Ambassador Sarah noted.

"We want a significant proportion of these programmes to be targeting those countries as the ones where the development gap remains to be bridged. Although of course, Việt Nam is such a dynamic and successful economy that is performing incredibly strongly."

Việt Nam plays a really important part in engaging with those other countries within ASEAN that are working to close the development gap, and Việt Nam can show them the path and offer advice, according to the UK diplomat.

Ambassador Tiffin also told Việt Nam News that in the future, the UK will seek to support ASEAN's leadership in maritime issues as part of its National Strategy for Maritime Security, to ensure a more prosperous, secure and sustainable maritime domain in Southeast Asia.

Tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, increasing maritime domain awareness, marine science, meteorology, climate security risk, and coastguard capability development, along with increasing expertise and knowledge with regards to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), including legal training, are among the activities the country will cooperate on with ASEAN.

Higher education cooperation, including scholarships for women in STEM to study in UK higher education institutions, as well as supporting universities to commercialise their research products, is also on the table, she said.

Human trafficking is another area where the UK is cooperating with ASEAN, with conferences on illicit financing already held to discuss and share expertise and policy prescriptions. A lot of representatives in UK embassies around the region as well as the representatives from the UK National Crime Agency are dedicated to people trafficking issues.

Tiffin stressed the UK's commitment towards the ASEAN region in its Indo-Pacific strategy, saying that this part of the world is a "key element," a "permanent pillar" of UK foreign policy.

The UK became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 2021 and the two sides have agreed on a plan of action last year, and are in the process of implementing this plan.

"My own view is that we need to be the absolutely best dialogue partner that we can be. We're still learning how to bring the best of what we have to offer, and how to get the best for ourselves out of this relationship," she said, calling the relationship "a marathon not a sprint."

The UK's relations with ASEAN as a bloc adds a whole new dimension to its partnership with each individual member, Sarah remarked. — VNS