HCMC – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh witnessed the signing of 26 cooperation agreements between the ministries and businesses of Vietnam and the United Kingdom (UK) partners on October 31 as part of his trip for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and an official visit to the UK.
The signing ceremony took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, the UK. The agreements cover various fields, from trade to agriculture, energy, education and training, healthcare, environmental protection and sports.
The 26 agreements included a Letter of Intent to join the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance Coalition, an agreement on cooperation to develop an action plan to strengthen linkages between the two countries’ higher education institutions, a Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation in education through the exchange of experiences and best strategic aspects, and a cooperation agreement to develop human resource training programs for the Ministry of Planning and Investment and support Vietnamese start-ups.
In addition, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc and Charlie Walker, Director Global Network of the British Council, signed a renewed Memorandum of Collaboration (MOC) between the British Council and the Ministry of Education and Training. The MOC being renewed for another three years till 2024 will deepen the existing collaboration between the ministry and the British Council of Education and English and contribute to quality education development in Vietnam through the sharing of UK knowledge, expertise and experience in areas of bilateral strategic interest.
The major agreements between Vietnamese and UK businesses included an agreement between Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjet Air and the Rolls-Royce Group on the provision of engines and engine services for the wide-body fleet with a total value of US$400 million, and a Memorandum of Understanding between SOVICO Group and Oxford University to cooperate in research and education development with a total value of US$212 million.
Besides, Affinity Investment Fund and HDBank reached an agreement worth US$300 million for the program on sustainable development and climate change combat, EMG Education and Pearson Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding on comprehensive education cooperation, and Bamboo Airways announced non-stop air routes to the UK, with APG being the airline’s general sales agent in the UK.
The agreements, whose total value amounts to billions of US dollars in various fields, demonstrate the strongly developing relations between Vietnam and the UK.
The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow from October 31 – November 12.
British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward said the UK Government considered Vietnam an important partner in the region and affirmed the UK’s commitment to enhance cooperation with Vietnam in different fields, from healthcare, defense and security to development, especially capacity building, to respond to climate change, following COP26.
As the Chair of COP26, the UK expects the conference to raise US$100 billion per year to finance climate change response activities in developing countries and encourage countries to build a long-term strategy toward net-zero emissions.
