HANOI: Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and his UK counterpart Philip Hammond convened bilateral talks in Hanoi on Tuesday afternoon, addressing cooperation between the two nations and matters in the East Vietnam Sea. The 45-minute conversation was part of the official visit to Vietnam of Foreign Secretary Hammond, scheduled for April 11-13.
The two high-ranking officials discussed and reached consensus on measures to enhance the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United Kingdom in politics, diplomacy, defense and security, economics, trade and investment, education and training, science and technology, and environmental and climate change issues, Minh told the press after their talks.
The two counties will continue to provide favorable conditions for enterprises to approach the two markets and boost investment, the Vietnamese minister said. Hanoi and London will also leverage all advantages and opportunities for investment and business operation brought by the European Union (EU) – Vietnam free trade agreement once ratified.
The two parties expressed their satisfaction with the rapid development and effectiveness of the cooperation in education, hoping to enlarge the number of Vietnamese students in the UK and to expedite the Vietnam-UK University project in the Southeast Asian country.
Expanding coordination in vocational training was also agreed upon by the two ministers with the objective of developing a high-quality labor force in the nation. According to Secretary Hammond, the UK is also willing to work with Vietnam to address matters relating to climate change.
The European nation will consider establishing and executing projects that make use of the Prosperity Fund program of the British government to deal with the consequences of climate change in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which has been ravaged by severe drought and salinization.
In terms of economic ties, the bilateral trade cooperation between Hanoi and London has doubled since 2010, Hammond stated. The British official believed that businesses and products from the UK could be provided with more opportunities to enter the Vietnamese market, especially in the fields of infrastructure, high-tech, healthcare, energy, and financial services. The two ministers also addressed the maintenance of stability and security in the Asia-Pacific.
The UK will always support the peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Vietnam Sea as per international law, primarily the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Hammond.
Relevant parties should not apply violence or unilaterally carry out military activities in the disputed sea area. Secretary Hammond also joined talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the capital on the same day.
PM Phuc urged the EU to be more assertive in ordering the cessation of artificial island constructions and militarizations in the East Vietnam Sea. Hammond said that he supported the establishment of a code of conduct for the maritime route within ASEAN, and to mainatain freedom of navigation and aviation in the region. The British official is scheduled to travel to Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to meet British businesses in Vietnam, and to visit the construction site of an urban rail project.
