The Vietnamese State leader met with the UK’s House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, House of Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, in addition to other British officials.
During the course of the meetings President Thuong expressed his delight at positive developments made in terms of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership amid both nations celebrating the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.
The British officials shared their view on the significance of President Thuong’s visit, stressing that the nation represents a leading partner of the UK in the region amid the European nation accelerating the implementation of its Indo-Pacific strategy.
They also noted with satisfaction the dynamic developments made in terms of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership over the decade across all fields, with the two sides agreeing to continue increasing all-level delegation exchanges throughout multiple channels of Party, State, Government, parliament, and people-to-people exchange. This is along with further fully and effectively materialising the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and bilateral co-operation mechanisms like the defence policy dialogue and the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
The two sides used the occasion to express their wish to expand and deepen bilateral ties in potential spheres such as national defence-security, green economy, climate change response, and renewable energy.
President Thuong suggested the UK help the country in terms of finance and technology, whilst striving to raise its capacity within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, towards fulfilling its commitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), which took place in the UK in 2021.
With regard to co-operation at regional and international forums, the two sides agreed to closely work together to support each other in multilateral frameworks like ASEAN- UK cooperation, the UN, the UN Human Rights Council for 2023 to 2025, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
British officials voiced their support for Vietnam’s and ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea, the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China.
Elsewhere, in a meeting with Vice President of Cuba Salvador Valdés Mesa, President Thuong stressed that the relationship between Vietnam and Cuba is exemplary in terms of purity, rarity, and loyalty.
In response, Cuban Vice President Mesa said that bilateral political ties have been constantly consolidated, as reflected through regular all-level delegation exchanges, going on to express his confidence that the relationship will grow and flourish further in the future.
