General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Tô Lâm (right) and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at their meeting in London on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo

LONDON — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Tô Lâm met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute, in London on Thursday, as part of his official visit to the UK.

The Party leader highly appreciated Blair's efforts in promoting Việt Nam–UK relations. He also welcomed the Tony Blair Institute’s initiatives and cooperative activities in providing policy advice, supporting digital transformation, fostering green economic development, and strengthening governance capacity in many countries, including Việt Nam.

He stated that Việt Nam aspires to achieve rapid yet steady development, demonstrated by key resolutions promoting breakthroughs in science - technology, innovation, and private economic sector development, with initial implementation already showing tangible results.

In this development process, Việt Nam places high importance on strengthening its strategic partnership with the UK, viewing collaboration in digital transformation, renewable energy, innovation, and public governance as the key pillars to foster a substantive, effective, and sustainable bilateral relationship in the new era, the Party chief said.

For his part, Blair expressed his honour in meeting Party General Secretary Lâm, and congratulated Việt Nam and the UK on upgrading their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Hailing Việt Nam’s recent achievements, Blair affirmed that Việt Nam is now a bright spot of the world. He stressed that the Tony Blair Institute stands ready to enhance support for Việt Nam in areas of its expertise, including policy consultation for building a financial centre, digital transformation, green energy strategies, attracting high-quality investment, human resource development, and improving state governance capacity through the application of artificial intelligence.

The Tony Blair Institute is willing to assist Việt Nam in steering clear of the middle-income trap, as suggested by the Party chief, and act as a bridge linking big companies, including Oracle, with investment opportunities in Việt Nam’s science and technology sector, he said.

Blair expressed his pleasure with the institute’s current collaboration with partners in Việt Nam, expressing his belief that even more partnerships will be set up in the years ahead.

Highly appreciating Blair’s proposals, General Secretary Lâm stated that Việt Nam always welcomes and facilitates concrete and practical cooperation initiatives aligned with its development goals. He urged the Tony Blair Institute to continue acting as a bridge to promote collaboration between ministries, businesses, research institutes, and universities of the two nations, particularly in the fields of digital government, digital economy, sustainable development, clean energy, education - training, and healthcare. — VNA/VNS