Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and the UK have substantialcooperation opportunities in the fulfillment of green growth targets, BritishAmbassador Gareth Ward has affirmed.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency (VNA), the diplomat said Vietnam is facing a slew of challenges like increasedsalinity levels and extreme weather events, and the “very dynamic economy”needs energy to continue its economic development.

“So against that background, it's a big challenge toget the climate policy right,” he said.

The ambassador, therefore, said he is very impressed by thecommitments set out by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 26th UnitedNations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the UK, lastNovember.

In his remarks, PM Chinh said as a developing nation,Vietnam has embarked on industrialisation for over the past three decades.

With advantages in renewable energy, Vietnam willbuild and roll out measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by its own resources,together with international cooperation and support, especially from developedcountries, in terms of both finance and technological transfer, the PM said,stressing that the move is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

“So there's a lot of work that we can do together. Andthe international community also increased its commitment to provide finance todeveloping countries, such as Vietnam,” Ward said.

Specifically, the UK has announced new funding for the ASEAN Green Climate Fund, which will provide good investment opportunities inthe renewable energy sphere.

“We want to work with Vietnam and other big donors andinstitutions like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and otherpartners to ensure the climate finance is flowing to Vietnam, particularly tothe grid,” he stressed.

The ambassador added that there are lots of privatesector companies that want to invest in solar power in wind power, helpingVietnam to green its economy.

Regarding the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership in2021, Ward said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the relations have made a lot ofprogress in politics, security and economy.

He highlighted the exchange of delegations in theyear, notably the trip to the UK by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh from October31 to November 2, and the official visit to Vietnam by British Secretary ofState for Defence Robert Ben Lobban Wallace in July.

As members of the UN Security Council, Vietnam and theUK had exchanges of ideas on a lot of global security issues, according to theambassador.

“So this is an excellent time for Vietnamesebusinesses to be exporting to the UK and British businesses to be exporting toVietnam,” he said, noting that the UK hopes to share its experience withVietnam in high tech, e-commerce and financial technology.

For the COVID-19 fight, the ambassador said Vietnamhas done "very well” in speeding up its vaccination programme, which has savedmany lives in the Southeast Asian nation.

“The number one achievement is having a highvaccination rate,” he said. “Your vaccination rate is the same as or perhapseven higher than the UK. So that's an excellent achievement.”

In addition, Vietnam has also modified procedures of tracking and tracing to make sure that it can be balanced against living withCOVID-19.

He suggested the country focus on supporting theeconomic recovery and getting children back to school in 2022.

So far, the UK has donated over 700,000 vaccine doses toVietnam and more will come to the country via the COVAX Facility. The UKhas also presented equipment to Vietnamese hospitals, particularly electronicmonitors and electronic dosage pumps, which help give a good standard oftreatment to the small number of people who unfortunately get very ill with thedisease.

The UK will continue to support Vietnam in thepandemic combat, and coordination in science and technology, especially intracking new variants, the ambassador pledged.

The British Embassy said more than 2 million doses of AstraZenecaCOVID-19 vaccine donated by the UK via the COVAX Facility arrived in Vietnam onJanuary 25, helping the country speed up its large-scale vaccine rollout andaccelerate economic reopening./.