THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Government News
General Secretary To Lam leaves for official visit to UK
VGP – General Secretary and his entourage left Ha Noi on Tuesday morning for a three-day official visit to the UK at the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee To Lam and his Spouse leave Ha Noi on October 28 for a three-day official visit to the UK
The Party leader is accompanied by Chairman of the Central Inspection Commission Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Chairman of the Communication, Education and Mass Mobilization Nguyen Trong Nghia, Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Municipal Party Committee Tran Luu Quang among others.
This is the first visit to the UK by a Vietnamese Party chief in 12 years and the visit concides with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership between Viet Nam and the UK.
Viet Nam and the UK are expected to lift the bilateral relations to a new level during General Secretary To Lam’s upcoming official visit to the European nation, British Ambassador Iain Frew told VGP ahead of the visit.
Over the past decade, bilateral merchandise trade has almost tripled, reaching more than £9 billion per annum—a sign of deep and substantive collaboration between the two nations.
The UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans‑Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with the support of Viet Nam, represents a major milestone, opening up opportunities for enterprises, institutions and individuals in both countries, thereby providing impetus for sustainable growth and investment.
On education cooperation, over the past 15 years, more than 75,000 Vietnamese students have studied in the UK and currently approximately 12,000 Vietnamese students are enrolled there each year.
It is not merely a process of acquiring knowledge or language skills, but also an opportunity to build "bridges connecting people" between the two countries, he reiterated.
The diplomat also commended Viet Nam's efforts to establish English as a second language throughout its national education system, with many British educational organizations actively supporting this initiative, which will enable young Vietnamese to integrate more fully into the international community.
In addition, the Ambassador pointed out that UK-Viet Nam university partnerships — for example, courses offered by the University of London and other leading British universities in Viet Nam — are allowing students to access high-quality education without travelling overseas.
Regarding climate cooperation and green transition, Frew described these as among the most outstanding areas of partnership, referring to Viet Nam's historic commitment at COP26 to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and said that the UK and Viet Nam have been cooperating closely under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
He noted that a UK energy delegation is currently present in Viet Nam to support the development of the offshore wind sector — an area where the UK has substantial practical experience, adding that cooperation in green transition will contribute to a fundamental restructuring of Viet Nam's energy sector.
In the domain of defense and security, Frew said that the UK is proud to accompany Viet Nam in UN peace-keeping activities as well as in the process of modernizing and diversifying Viet Nam's defense industry.
He pointed out that whereas security-defense cooperation would have been unthinkable twenty years ago, today it has become a pillar of bilateral relations, contributing to both regional and global security./.