Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc hoped that Vietnam’s trade, investment, and defence-security cooperationwith the UK will be growing strongly following the visit by Secretary of Statefor International Trade Liam Fox.

Meeting the UK official in Hanoi on February 23, the PM pledged that Vietnamwill create optimal conditions for UK businesses and investors during theiroperation in Vietnam, proposing the two countries beef up their cooperation fora goal of doubling the current two-way trade of over 5.6 billion USD by 2020.

He urged the UK to help speed up the official enactmentof the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, suggesting both studying a new tradepact suitable to post-Brexit situation.

He said Vietnamese enterprises want to strengthenpartnerships with their UK peers, who have strong capacity, experiences andtechnologies.

He hoped that the UK will continue supporting Vietnam totrain high-quality human resources and teach English, and facilitate Vietnamesestudents’ study there.

He lauded the effective operation of the BritishCouncil in Vietnam, wishing it more success in the future.

He said he expected the UK Government will make iteasier for more than 70,000 Vietnamese who are living and studying in thecountry. 

He also expressed his pleasure to see the increasingnumber of UK tourists to Vietnam.

For his part, Fox highlighted the cooperation betweenVietnam and the UK in multiple fields, including corruption prevention andfighting, administrative reform.

He reiterated that the UK, after Brexit, still looksto strengthen economic cooperation with other nations by enhancing itsinvestment overseas and ensuring free trade.

He underlined cooperation potential for the two nations,particularly in commercial airplane purchase, education and training, andnational defence and security.

The two nations should foster their strategicpartnership in other fields, he added.

The UK pledged to support Vietnam’s socio-economicdevelopment, he said, adding that this contributes to the UK’s prosperity.

He expressed his hope that the two Governments willwork closely together, in which the Vietnam – UK Joint Committee on Economicand Trade Cooperation is the tool to promote bilateral investment and tradeexchanges.-VNA