Hanoi (VNA) – A celebration marking the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-UKdiplomatic relations was held by the Vietnam-UK Friendship Association in Hanoion December 7.

Chairman of the Association Hoang Van Dung said that since both sides set updiplomatic relations on September 11, 1973, bilateral ties have been continuouslyconsolidated and developed, particularly after they elevated relations to astrategic partnership in 2010 with seven fields of cooperation inpolitics-foreign affairs, regional and global issues, trade-investment,sustainable socio-economic cooperation development, education-training,security-defence, and people-to-people exchange.

Regarding politics, the two countries haveenhanced their exchange of high-level delegations, which has helped bolsterrelations in various sectors.

In economic and investment collaboration, the UK is currently the third largestEU trade partner of Vietnam, ranking 11th among the countries and territoriesinvesting in the Southeast Asian nation with 267 valid projects valued at 3.71billion USD, he noted. Despite global economic fluctuation, two-way traderocketed to 6.1 billion USD in 2017, he stressed, with Vietnam’s exports at 5.4billion USD, up 10 percent from 2016 and tripling the amount recorded in 2010.

Touching on education, Dung underlined that there are some 12,000 Vietnamesestudents pursuing studies in the European country. After their training andgraduating in the world’s top education environment, he expects that they willmake significant contributions to socio-economic development in the homeland.

Laying stress on the robust people-to-people exchanges over the years, he saidthat British people now have a deeper insight into Vietnamese people, landscapeand culture thanks to the rise of culture and tourism popularisationactivities. This is a favourable condition for both peoples to branch out theirbilateral ties.

With regards to the Vietnam-UK Friendship Association, Dung said that theassociation, established in 1998, has made concerted efforts to bridge soundtraditional relations through a wide range of activities, like organisingmeetings to mark public holidays of the two countries, as well as conferencesand talks on education cooperation, and calling for support for Vietnamesevictims of Agent Orange, among others.

The association will do its utmost to further bilateral ties, he affirmed,hoping to receive more assistance from the UK Embassy in Vietnam, the BritishCouncil and UK friends in the coming time.

UK Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward expressed his delight in attending thecelebration. Mentioning several activities in Vietnam marking the 45thanniversary of the diplomatic relations – like the UK Royal Navy’s amphibiousassault ship HMS Albion visit, the UK’s Inspire Me Festival 2018, and the visitmade by the UK’s Duke of York Prince Andrew – he highlighted that they haveplayed an important role in raising Vietnam-UK ties.–VNA