Newly-appointed Ambassador presents credentials to Queen Elizabeth II

At the reception at Buckingham Palace , the Queen said she was happy to hear about the fine development of the bilateral relationship between the UK and Việt Nam, which has been elevated to higher level by signing a joint declaration to establish a strategic partnership in September 2010.

Queen Elizabeth II also told the newly-appointed Ambassador that Prince Andrew, a royal member, has had positive contributions to promoting the two countries’ ties, especially in the economic and commercial cooperation.

On the occasion, Ambassador Minh conveyed the Vietnamese President’s best wishes to the Queen, as her birthday is being celebrated in Britain .

Later in the day, at a reception held at the embassy, the diplomat told participants, including ambassadors from some Asian countries and representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and UK Trade and Investment that the two countries had witnessed fast and profound development in bilateral ties in many areas, such as trade, investment and education.

He noted that the UK now is Việt Nam’s second largest trading partner in the EU and the country is also the biggest development grant provider for Việt Nam with the total aid assistance exceeding £378 million .

Ambassador Minh told the guests that Việt Nam was receiving increasingly interest from the UK as British Foreign Secretary William Hague said “UK shall increase her diplomatic presence” in Việt Nam. Minh said Việt Nam was also placed in a group of emerging powers under the newly established Department for East Asia and the Pacific of the FCO.

He also expressed his hope that the launching of direct flights between Việt Nam and London scheduled for the end of this year would help the two countries “be ever closer to each other”.

Việt Nam and the UK established diplomatic ties in 1973./.