London (VNA) – The UK’s Minister forInvestment Lord Gerry Grimstone has expressed his interest in trade andinvestment promotion between Vietnam and the UK to open the door for goods andservices of the two countries.

At a working with Ambassador Nguyen HoangLong in London on January 26, Grimstone spoke highly of Vietnam’s economic achievementsand potential.

He suggested the two countries intensify mutualunderstanding and trust building following post-pandemic opening, contributing toenhancing their bilateral cooperation.

The two sides reached consensus on cooperationpriorities in the coming years, with a focus on such areas as green trade, financeand transformation, renewable energy, education and tourism.

For his part, Long said the Vietnam-UK strategicpartnership is at its best ever and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA)is opening up new opportunities and bringing pragmatic interests to businessesand people of both sides.

Two-way trade hit 6.6 billion USD last year, up more than17 percent year-on-year, he said, adding that the UK is an early investor inVietnam, mainly in oil and gas, insurance, banking and education, with totalcapital amounting to over 4 billion USD.

The diplomat expressed his belief that the bilateralcollaboration, particularly in trade, investment and tourism, will grow furtherin the time ahead, and affirmed that Vietnam backs the UK’s joining the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Long used the occasion to ask the minister to help Vietnamconnect with the UK’s agencies, organisations and enterprises from the centralto grassroots levels to promote cooperation opportunities as well as strengthof each side.

The ambassador said he believes that Grimstone willmake more contributions to the bilateral relations, especially in the implementationof the UKVFTA and Vietnam’s fulfillment of commitments announced at the 26thUnited Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, theUK, last November.

On January 25, Long met with UK Minister of State forDefense Annabel Goldie who lauded Vietnam’s contributions to UN peacekeepingoperations and expressed her belief that the country’s peacekeeping forces willfurther grow in the time ahead.

Recalling her trip to Vietnam in 2019, Goldie said shehopes to come back Vietnam.

Long said Vietnam and the UK have optimal conditionsto step up cooperation across spheres, including security-national defence – a pillarof their strategic partnership.

He suggested Goldie continue to support Vietnam in developingpeacekeeping forces, and facilitate the delegation exchange between the two defenceministries to promote programmes and projects on security and defencecooperation.

Goldie thankedVietnam for supporting the UK to become a dialogue partner of the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and expressed her hope for stronger ties betweenthe UK and Vietnam as well as ASEAN.

She affirmed her support for Vietnam’s stance and viewpoint on theEast Sea issue and stressed the spirit of respect to the rule of the law and the observance ofinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (1982 UNCLOS).

Goldie expressed her willingness to assist Vietnam intraining in terms of international law and peacekeeping, and boost delegationexchange and cooperation in strategic research./.