In an interview recently given to the People’s Army Newspaper, the UK Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward confirmed that the UK will continue expanding its cooperation with Vietnam in different fields, including defense ties.
The UK diplomat said that after Brexit, the UK still considered enhancing the country’s bilateral trade cooperation with Vietnam one of its major cooperation activities. He voiced the UK’s support for the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which will take effect soon. He stressed that the two countries have enjoyed fine development in bilateral trade ties in recent years and the UK is willing to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with Vietnam.
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UK Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward |
The UK Ambassador took note of important contributions of several UK products and services to Vietnam’s economic development and emphasized that finance, banking, insurance, medicine, and pharmaceuticals are fields that the UK can support Vietnam.
He also stressed that the UK pays due attention to cooperation in climate change response as Vietnam is a country that is badly affected by climate change and sea level rise.
Alongside supporting Vietnam in UN peacekeeping operations, the UK will continue backing security, safety, and freedom of navigation according to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said the UK diplomat.
He again reminded the UK’s wish to further its ties with Vietnam which lies in the Asia-Pacific region, one of the most dynamic economic development areas that the UK is willing to strengthen relations with.
The UK diplomat expressed his pleasure at the good outcomes of the joint exercises between the forces of the UK and Vietnam, the visits of naval ships to each country, and other cooperation activities.
He was also delighted at the remarkable development in the bilateral defense ties, especially after the two countries established their strategic partnership a decade ago. He named a number of impressive cooperation activities, such as defense policy dialogues at the deputy-ministerial level, training courses on UN peacekeeping operations, law of the sea, exchanges between naval ships, and cooperation in ensuring security in South Sudan.
He showed his optimism about the development of the bilateral defense ties in the time ahead with the organization of more high-level policy dialogues and training courses.
Ambassador Gareth Ward underscored that Vietnam and the UK have great potential for cooperation and the UK has a lot of experience in military medical training, military technology, engineering, hydrograph, and capacity building for coast guards.
He said that the two countries’ defense cooperation will focus on not only bilateral fields but also global policy issues, especially this year when Vietnam takes the role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and engages in addressing issues related to peacekeeping activities and ensuring security in African and Middle Eastern countries.
The diplomat also shared the UK’s wish to further its collaboration with Vietnam as the ASEAN Chair 2020 in green finance and technology and to support Vietnam in taking the lead in creativity driven fields.
Laying stress on the priority that the UK has given to its relations with ASEAN, the UK Ambassador revealed the recent opening of a UK embassy in ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia.
He highly appreciates Vietnam for hosting a big UN event on women, peace and security to emphasize women’s role in peace-building and their contributions to the recovery of a conflict-affected country.
He spoke highly of Vietnam’s priorities in its ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 and the important role of Vietnamese female peacekeepers in South Sudan and of Vietnamese female troops in the mine action program in Vietnam. He affirmed that these are good models for other countries to follow and evidence that the peace-building process will reap more success with the engagement of women.
Translated by Mai Huong