At a February 26 meeting in Hanoi, Dam noted there is plenty of opportunity for cooperation between Vietnam and the UK to be on a par with their established strategic partnership.
He cited UK investment’s US$3 billion and bilateral trade’s US$4 billion in 2013 as modest figures compared to the two countries’ potential.
Dam suggested prioritising education cooperation, saying joint cooperation projects in this field will help promote the strategic partnership.
The Vietnamese government pays special attention to education and training reform and wants to learn about advanced education models, including from the UK, he said.
Speeding up education projects like the Vietnam-UK University one will help boost education cooperation between the two countries, he assured his guest.
The Deputy PM also expressed his hope Vietnam will successfully organise the Asian games (ASIAD) by 2019 with support from international friends, including the UK.
Lord Puttnam echoed Dam’s view, saying potential for UK-Vietnam cooperation is enormous, spanning trade, investment, and education and training.
He suggested both sides make a greater effort to effectively implement signed agreements, including the Vietnam-UK University project and technology transfer regarding ASIAD 2019 organisation.
Puttnam said Vietnam should anticipate human resource demands in the future to come up with long-term training and development strategies.
He announced the British government’s GBP10 million aid for science-technology research projects in Vietnam over the next five years.
