Attending the meeting, on the Vietnamese side, there were Mr. Do Minh Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, representatives of the Government Office , Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.
On the UK side, there were Mr. Iain Frew, British Ambassador to Vietnam; Mr. Alex Smith, British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City; representatives of the UK Department for Business and Trade, British Embassy in Vietnam.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long affirmed that through 13 JETCO meetings and 2 UKVFTA Trade Committee meetings, these two mechanisms have had many positive impacts on the effectiveness of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, contributing to solving difficulties for businesses and building a more favorable business environment for businesses.
Reviewing the achievements, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long assessed that the trade and investment relations between the two countries over the past 10 years have been making remarkable progress and strong cooperation in all aspects.
In the field of trade, the two countries have had the UKVFTA Agreement in effect for more than 4 years and most recently the CPTPP Agreement when the UK became the 12th member of this Agreement. In the field of energy, with the strong promotion and support of the UK in the Fair Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) program and bilateral cooperation programs, Vietnam is gradually perfecting its institutions, absorbing knowledge, experience, and international investment interest to transition energy, towards the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
At the UKVFTA Trade Committee meeting, the two sides discussed and reviewed the implementation of the Agreement based on reports from specialized committees on trade in goods, customs, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade in services - investment, trade and sustainable development.
The two sides acknowledged and appreciated the efforts and results achieved in the process of putting the Agreement into practice, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people of the two countries.
In addition, the two sides also discussed directions for handling a number of issues related to market access for goods and services of interest to further promote bilateral trade and investment.
At the 14th JETCO meeting, the two sides had substantive discussions and reached consensus on many practical cooperation issues, specifically: Agriculture, Healthcare, Banking and Finance, Renewable Energy, Promoting bilateral trade & investment between Vietnam and the UK, Education and Capacity Building.
In the field of agriculture, food and beverage, the UK expressed its interest in Vietnam's guidance and support for registration to open the market for UK poultry, beef and seafood products to Vietnam; at the same time, it welcomed Vietnam's proposal to promote the approval of poultry meat products imported from Vietnam to the UK and Vietnam's cooperation proposals in this field.
In the field of finance and banking, the UK expressed its desire to accompany Vietnam in developing an international financial center. The UK also proposed additional cooperation activities related to green bonds and the establishment of financial institutions in Vietnam. In response, Vietnam welcomed and requested the UK to send specific proposals to relevant Vietnamese agencies.
In the energy sector, the UK expressed its commitment to accompany Vietnam in the energy transition process through bilateral cooperation and the JETP framework. The Vietnamese side shared with the UK information on the completion of the policy mechanism for developing renewable energy and offshore wind power in Vietnam, and thanked the UK for supporting Vietnam in the JETP Just Energy Transition mechanism.
Vietnam also asked the UK to increase support for Vietnam's energy transition, improve management capacity, train human resources in the renewable energy sector, and support Vietnam in building a sustainable renewable energy supply chain.
In the field of capacity building and training, Vietnam proposed that the UK actively implement activities on cooperation in innovation, science and technology, support capacity building for Vietnamese officials, cooperate in teaching English, and improve the quality of university education.
Regarding bilateral trade and investment, Vietnam once again welcomes the UK to become a member of the CPTPP Agreement, and actively cooperates to improve the effectiveness of the UKVFTA and CPTPP Agreements, supports investment and trade promotion, periodically organizes activities connecting businesses of the two countries, creates favorable conditions for businesses of the two sides to participate in each other's markets, and cooperates in the field of market management.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long thanked the Secretary of State Douglas Alexander and the UK for their warm welcome and affirmed that the issues discussed at JETCO 14 and the UKVFTA Trade Committee will be further implemented by the two sides' technical staff. The two sides agreed to closely coordinate and make efforts to thoroughly and effectively resolve the issues discussed at this Session, bringing the relationship between the two countries to a new level.
On the sidelines of the program, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long had a meeting with Mr. Matt Western, the British Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Vietnam. The two sides emphasized the success of the 14th JETCO Meeting and the 13th UKVFTA Trade Committee.
Discussing the potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Matt Western had detailed discussions on the prospects for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries in the coming time, taking advantage of existing agreements such as UKVFTA and CPTPP.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long affirmed that the UK is a leading trade and investment partner of Vietnam and Europe, highly appreciating the active cooperation and potential for trade and investment growth in the coming time.
At the meeting, the two sides also discussed the energy cooperation process with the effective and practical support activities that the UK has provided to Vietnam, contributing to realizing the commitments within the JETP framework and accelerating the energy transition process in Vietnam.
At noon of the same day, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long had a working session with the leaders of the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC), along with leaders of several large British enterprises such as HSBC, Prudentials, Arup, and BP.
Mr. Stuart Tait, Chairman of UKABC, expressed his interest in expanding cooperation and huge investment between the UK and Vietnam, affirming the bridging role of UKABC in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Long had detailed discussions on the potential for cooperation and investment in Vietnam, particularly in the renewable energy sector, with the recent completion of Vietnam's legal framework helping to remove many bottlenecks and promote project implementation. Business representatives also expressed their interest and presented their orientations for participation and cooperation with Vietnamese businesses in the coming time.
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 6 months of 2025, trade between the two countries increased significantly compared to the same period, with total turnover reaching more than 4.3 billion USD, up 9.6%. Of which, Vietnam's exports reached nearly 3.9 billion USD, up 8.2%. Imports from the UK reached 461.6 million USD, up 23.1%. In 2024, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and the UK will reach more than 8.4 billion USD, a sharp increase of 18% compared to 2023. Of which, Vietnam's exports will reach more than 7.5 billion USD, an increase of 18.9%, and imports will reach 881.1 million USD, an increase of 10.8%. Vietnam's trade growth with the UK market in 2024 will be higher than the average trade growth with the EU region (16.8%), European countries (17.2%) and the world (15.4%). Vietnam and the UK trade has grown continuously since 2021 despite the pandemic, global economic and political fluctuations and the decline in global trade in 2023. With the above import-export turnover in 2024, the UK is currently Vietnam's third largest export market in Europe, after the Netherlands (13.8 billion USD) and Germany (11.7 billion USD). |
Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/hoat-dong/thu-truong-nguyen-hoang-long-tham-du-khoa-hop-lan-thu-14-jetco-va-khoa-hop-lan-thu-3-uy-ban-thuong-mai-hiep-dinh-ukvfta.html
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