NA Chairman vows favourable conditions for Việt Nam-UK trade ties

NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ witnesses the exchange of co-operation agreements between businesses and localities of Việt Nam and the UK. VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

With the aim of stronger economic, trade and investment partnerships between the two countries, the event drew Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Lê Văn Thành, British Secretary of State for International Trade Anne Marie Trevelyan, Member of Parliament Graham Stuart (the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Vietnam), and a large number of Vietnamese and British businesses.

Addressing the event, Deputy PM Thành highlighted important progress in the Việt Nam-UK Strategic Partnership, as well as great chances for both sides to bolster their ties through the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

He underlined that both sides should optimise the advantages of the deal by encouraging the promotion of the two-way trade and investment, and creating favourable conditions for enterprises of both sides to explore each other’s market and foster connection to striving for a trade value of over US$10 billion by 2023.

Thành confirmed Việt Nam's political determination in realising commitments made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), stressing that Việt Nam hopes the UK Government and businesses will support the country in technology, finance and human resources, especially during the process of switching from fossil fuels to green energy.

Việt Nam calls on British firms to invest more in areas of green growth, digital transformation, processing-manufacturing, finance, banking, education-training, innovation and pharmaceuticals, he said, pledging that the Government will create the best business environment for them.

For her part, Trevelyan spoke highly of the Vietnamese market, predicting that by the end of this decade, Việt Nam will become one of the 30 largest economies in the world. She affirmed that trade ties with Việt Nam play an important role in the UK’s trade policy.

The British official said she hopes the UK’s green industries will play a greater role in supporting Việt Nam in the path towards green energy, adding green finance businesses in the UK are also interested in Việt Nam.

Trevelyan said that the UK hopes to cooperate closely with Việt Nam in turning HCM City into a full financial centre through support in financial and market reform, and cooperation in digital infrastructure development, education and training.

She also emphasised that the UK wishes to increase its interaction with the Indo-Pacific region, underlining that Việt Nam plays a key role in helping the UK become the first dialogue partner of the ASEAN and foster cooperation with the region.

The official thanked Việt Nam for assisting the country to join the Comprehensive and Progress Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

At the event, NA Chairman Huệ directly answered questions raised by British businesses.

Mentioning Việt Nam’s preparations to overcome challenges in 2022 and 2023 amid the changing world situation, the Vietnamese NA leader said that as an economy with a high level of openness, Việt Nam suffers from all changes in the world.

However, even in the global crisis period of 2008-2009 or in the COVID-19 period in 2020-2021, Việt Nam still maintained positive growth at 2.91 per cent in 2020 and 2.58 per cent in 2021, and maintaining strong growth currently.

While the world is facing high inflation in the first half of this year, Việt Nam managed to keep it at 2.45 per cent with stable macro balances.

Việt Nam aims to become a high middle-income country by 2030 and a developed country with high income in 2045, he said, adding that it has kept targets in its financial, budget and investment plans for the next five and ten years unchanged.

The leader underlined that the Vietnamese NA has worked to support the Government through a “soft ecosystem” with assistance in fiscal and monetary policies.

NA Chairman Huệ witnessed the exchange of cooperation agreements between businesses and localities of Việt Nam and the UK.

On the same day, he had a meeting with the former Mayor of the City of London Peter Estlin, during which the Vietnamese leader proposed that the British side support Việt Nam in completing the legal framework in the field of finance and banking while helping HCM City become an international financial centre.

Việt Nam hopes to learn from other countries' experiences in different financial centres and apply the most suitable lesson, he stated.

For his part, Estlin said that the UK is willing to cooperate with Việt Nam at different levels, including between the UK Government and the ASEAN Community, including Việt Nam, especially in financial market development.

He agreed with the Vietnamese leader’s proposal on cooperation in the fields of green finance and the digitalisation of the financial market.