The 11th Việt Nam-UK Strategic Dialogue held in London. — VNA/VNS Photo

LONDON — Việt Nam and the UK have agreed to strengthen political trust and expand substantive cooperation across various fields, reaffirming their commitment to advancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in October 2025.

The agreement was reached at the 11th Việt Nam-UK Strategic Dialogue in London on Tuesday, co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng and UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Rosalie Winterton.

Winterton affirmed that the UK attaches importance to its relations with Việt Nam and appreciated the positive progress in bilateral ties since their upgrade of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the official visit to the UK by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm in October 2025.

She spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic achievements, stressing that the UK regards Việt Nam as a trusted partner playing an important role in the Indo-Pacific region and ASEAN.

The UK stands ready to accompany and support Việt Nam in pursuing its strategic development goals in the coming period, she stated, expressing her hope that the two sides will continue promoting effective and substantive cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

For her part, Hằng congratulated the UK on its socio-economic achievements and highlighted its role and standing in the region and the world. She expressed Việt Nam’s desire to further deepen bilateral ties and stressed the significance of the dialogue, held one year after the two countries established their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Briefing the UK side on Việt Nam’s socio-economic and foreign affairs situation and development orientations, Hằng called for stronger cooperation in areas where the UK has expertise and Việt Nam has demand, including international financial centre development, securities and commodity markets, to strengthen bilateral ties and deliver practical benefits to their people.

The two sides welcomed the positive and notable progress in bilateral relations and agreed to consolidate political trust through all-level delegation exchanges across various channels, while making more effective use of existing cooperation mechanisms.

They pledged to step up practical cooperation in defence - security, economic, trade and investment ties, and maritime affairs; closely coordinate and mutually support at the United Nations and other multilateral forums, as well as within the ASEAN-UK framework, particularly as Việt Nam serves as a coordinator for relations between the bloc and the UK for 2024-27.

They affirmed that implementing effectively the UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will further promote trade, investment and business connectivity. They agreed to organise the 15th meeting of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO 15) in Hà Nội in 2026, working towards lifting their two-way trade to GBP15 billion (US$20.23 billion) by 2030.

Highlighting finance and green transition as key pillars of cooperation, Winterton called for more effective implementation of existing initiatives, including the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) programme and the UK – Việt Nam Offshore Wind Accelerator Partnership. She also proposed mobilising resources under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), promoting green finance and clean energy, contributing to the Southeast Asian country's net-zero emissions target by 2050.

Hang expressed gratitude to the UK for supporting Việt Nam in establishing its International Financial Centre (IFC) and securing FTSE Russell’s upgrade of the Vietnamese stock market to secondary emerging market status in September.

She called on the UK side to encourage its financial institutions, banks and investment funds to contribute to the development of Việt Nam’s IFC and capital market, while expanding cooperation in new financial products and services, high-quality workforce training, clean energy and green finance.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in science and technology, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges. They agreed to strengthen links between innovation ecosystems; promote joint research and technology transfer; facilitate the establishment of campuses in Việt Nam by leading UK universities; improve education quality; share experience in promoting English as a second language in schools; and expand scholarship opportunities for Vietnamese students.

On regional and international issues, both sides reaffirmed their support for maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea as well as in the Strait of Hormuz.

They stressed the need to settle disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and work towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

During her working visit, Hằng also met with Mark Garnier, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Việt Nam, UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Việt Nam Matt Western, and representatives of Vietnamese associations and organisations in the UK. — VNA/VNS