Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lê Hoài Trung, member of the Politburo, received in the afternoon of June 10 in Hanoi, Seema Malhotra, British Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on a working visit to Vietnam.
On this occasion, the head of Vietnamese diplomacy thanked the United Kingdom for sending a high-level representative to the ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026. Welcoming the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership, he reaffirmed Vietnam's support for strengthening relations between ASEAN and London, while emphasizing Hanoi's determination to fully assume its role as coordinator of ASEAN-UK relations for the period 2024-2027.
Minister Lê Hoài Trung praised the significant progress in bilateral relations, especially since the elevation of ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in October 2025. He stressed that the United Kingdom remains an important partner of Vietnam and that the two countries still have vast potential for cooperation in sectors such as trade, investment, finance, science and technology, education, tourism, green transition, and renewable energy.
In this perspective, he proposed strengthening trade and investment promotion activities as well as reciprocal market opening, in order to achieve the set target of 10 billion dollars in bilateral trade as early as this year. He also reaffirmed Vietnam's willingness to create favorable conditions for British companies wishing to invest sustainably in the country, particularly in strategic infrastructure projects with strong spillover effects.
For her part, Seema Malhotra congratulated Vietnam on the successful organization of the ASEAN Future Forum and welcomed the country's active role within the regional organization. She also expressed gratitude for Vietnam's contributions to the development of ASEAN-UK relations.
The British official said she was impressed by Vietnam's socio-economic achievements and emphasized the positive momentum of bilateral relations, especially since the official visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Tô Lâm, to the United Kingdom in 2025. She reaffirmed London's willingness to further strengthen cooperation with Hanoi in all areas, including politics, diplomacy, migration, trade, investment, science and technology, education, and green growth.
Seema Malhotra indicated that British investors are showing increasing interest in the Vietnamese market, particularly in the energy and ecological transition sectors. She confirmed that the United Kingdom will continue to support Vietnam in implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), notably through support for improving the regulatory framework to attract more international private investment.
The two sides agreed to strengthen political trust through increased exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at the highest level, and to quickly develop an action plan to concretize the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They also reaffirmed their willingness to fully exploit existing cooperation mechanisms, including the Strategic Dialogue at the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs level.
On the economic front, the two countries agreed to promote connections between investment funds, cooperate in the development of international financial centers as well as in the critical minerals sector, while coordinating efforts to support global trade.
In the field of education and training, both sides stressed the importance of strengthening links between experts, research institutes, and leading educational institutions. They plan to set up programs to train highly qualified human resources in sectors where the United Kingdom has recognized expertise and where Vietnam expresses growing needs.
The British side also reaffirmed its readiness to support Vietnam in strengthening English language teaching and in achieving the goal of making English a second language in the Vietnamese school system.
Addressing regional and international issues of common interest, the two officials agreed to continue close coordination within multilateral mechanisms, notably in the frameworks of the United Nations and the ASEAN-UK partnership. They reaffirmed their commitment to dialogue, respect for international law, peaceful settlement of disputes, as well as ensuring freedom, safety, and security of maritime and aviation navigation, energy security, and resilience of supply chains.
Both sides emphasized that strengthening Vietnam-UK relations contributes not only to the common interests of the two countries but also to peace, stability, and sustainable development in their respective regions and the world.
VNA/CVN
