Hanoi – Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet expressed delight at the positive development in Vietnam-UK relations in recent years and said Vietnam wanted to expand cooperation with the UK in different areas during a meeting with Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on Monday.
Triet said he was happy that Vietnam and the UK had signed a declaration to officially spur relations into a strategic partnership.
He highly valued the role the royal family had played in speeding up friendship relations and cooperation.
The President emphasized that in addition to cooperation in economy, trade and investment, Vietnam also wanted to expand cooperation with the UK in culture, education, science and technology, security and national defense.
He said Vietnam was still developing and faced many difficulties, and therefore expected to receive the attention of more British investors, especially for investments in mechanical manufacturing, transport infrastructure, sea ports, aviation, finance and banking.
Triet asked the UK to look into the establishment of information technology (IT) universities in Hanoi, HCM City and Da Nang.
He said cooperation in culture and education and training was a foundation to strengthen friendship between the two countries.
In reply, Prince Andrew said the UK had attached much importance to speeding up relations with Vietnam and cited the signing of the declaration as a proof of the UK's determination.
He added that many British enterprises were interested in Vietnam's investment environment and wanted to expand cooperation here.
In an attempt to strengthen relations, the Prince said the two countries needed to expand high-level visits, exchange delegations and step up people-to-people exchanges.
He said the UK would support Vietnam in training English teachers for the primary school level.
Support for UK firms
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam and the UK needed to discuss and develop measures to speed up cooperation, relations on par with the strategic partnership in politics, diplomatic service, economy, culture and society.
Dung made the proposal during a separate meeting with Prince Andrew on the same day.
He said Vietnam was willing to support British enterprises to further speed up trade and investment in Vietnam.
Dung said Vietnam also wanted the UK to grant more official development assistance to Vietnam with a focus on education.
He proposed the opening of a direct air route from Vietnam to the UK to expand cooperation and exchange between the two countries.
Prince Andrew said the UK government would exert efforts to realize established commitments and agreements and asked both sides to build a plan of action to speed up cooperation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem also held talks with Prince Andrew, the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, yesterday.
He welcomed the Prince's fifth visit to Vietnam and said this was the first high-ranking UK visit to Vietnam after the establishment of the bilateral strategic partnership last month.
Khiem said he was delighted at having the UK become a leading economic partner with Vietnam.
He said the Vietnamese Government would create favorable conditions to help British enterprises expand investment and do their business effectively and for the long term in the country.
Prince Andrew pledged to do his part to help speed up the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership in the years to come.
Public-private ties
As a strategic partner of Vietnam, the UK would like to make the partnership meaningful and beneficial, said the Prince.
"Two key areas of this relationship cover trade and development: both are essential elements for a country's well-being," said the Duke of York at the workshop entitled Public- Private Partnerships: a British Perspective on Opportunities for Vietnam in Hanoi yesterday.
"And as part of that relationship we see the concept of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) as being a key ingredient to deliver the necessary infrastructure which will bring increased trade and investment."
Opening the workshop, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said the PPP would certainly bring good benefits for infrastructure development in Vietnam.
"To attract, convince and create a level playing field for foreign investors, the Vietnamese Government will attempt to clarify the public trading system and continue adjusting and improving legal issues relating to bidding," Dong said.
Kate Harrisson, deputy head of Mission of the British Embassy to Vietnam, expressed her hope that the UK could now share its experience with Vietnam at a time when Vietnam was looking at new ways of finding financing for crucial infrastructure projects.
"PPP has been a cornerstone of the modernisation of public service delivery in the UK with more than 900 projects, involving private finance of around US$100 billion approved in the UK in the last 12 years," she said.
Economic experts from the UK also said while implementing the PPP, Vietnam needed to think of other resources from throughout the world, not only the UK but any country that had experience in the PPP.
Vietnam aims to become a modern industrialized nation by 2020. The country is in need of $60-70 billion from private sector investors to develop infrastructure because the State budget alone is insufficient.
Scholarships
British University Vietnam announced yesterday a new series of scholarships named after Prince Andrew.
The Prince Andrew Scholarships, each worth up to $30,000, are aimed to fully cover tuition and fees at British University, plus travel costs for students called for an interview by the scholarship panel.
The scholarships are open to all Vietnamese high school students and will be awarded on the basis of academic excellence, community involvement and the potential to become leaders in the public sector, academia or business.
