Viet Nam and the UK agreed to strengthen political trust and expand substantive cooperation across fields, reaffirming their commitment to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in October 2025.
The agreement was reached at the 11th Viet Nam-UK Strategic Dialogue in London on Tuesday, co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang and UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific Rosalie Winterton.
Winterton said the UK attaches importance to relations with Viet Nam and noted progress since the two countries upgraded ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during To Lam's official visit to the UK in October 2025.
She praised Viet Nam's socio-economic achievements and said the UK regards it as a trusted partner in the Indo-Pacific region and ASEAN.
The UK is ready to support Viet Nam's strategic development goals, she said, expressing hope for continued effective cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Hang congratulated the UK on its socio-economic achievements, noted its regional and global role, and expressed Viet Nam's desire to deepen bilateral ties. She stressed the importance of the dialogue, held one year after the partnership was established.
Hang briefed the UK on Viet Nam's socio-economic and foreign affairs situation and development orientations. She called for stronger cooperation in areas where the UK has expertise and Viet Nam has demand, including international financial centres, securities and commodity markets.
The two sides welcomed progress in bilateral relations and agreed to consolidate political trust through delegation exchanges at all levels and more effective use of existing mechanisms.
They pledged practical cooperation in defence and security, the economy, trade, investment and maritime affairs, and closer coordination at the United Nations, other multilateral forums and within the ASEAN-UK framework. Viet Nam coordinates relations between the bloc and the UK for 2024-27.
They said implementing the UK-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement and CPTPP would promote trade, investment and business links. They agreed to hold the 15th Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting in Ha Noi in 2026 and work towards two-way trade of GBP15 billion, or US$20.23 billion, by 2030.
Winterton called finance and the green transition major cooperation areas and urged implementation of UK PACT and the UK-Viet Nam Offshore Wind Accelerator Partnership. She also proposed using Just Energy Transition Partnership resources and promoting green finance and clean energy to support the net-zero target for 2050.
Hang thanked the UK for supporting Viet Nam's International Financial Centre and FTSE Russell's upgrade of the Vietnamese stock market to secondary emerging market status in September.
She urged British financial institutions, banks and investment funds to support Viet Nam's financial centre and capital market, and to expand cooperation in financial products and services, workforce training, clean energy and green finance.
The sides discussed science and technology, education, training and people-to-people exchanges. They agreed to link innovation ecosystems, promote joint research and technology transfer, facilitate UK university campuses in Viet Nam, improve education, share experience in teaching English as a second language and expand scholarships for Vietnamese students.
They reaffirmed support for peace, stability, security, safe navigation and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
They stressed peaceful dispute settlement under international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and work towards an effective Code of Conduct.
During her visit, Hang met Mark Garnier, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Viet Nam, UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy Matt Western and representatives of Vietnamese associations and organisations in the UK.
Sources: Viet Nam News
