“I am excited to be visiting Vietnam. I am the first British Prime Minister to do so. This is a country that has transformed itself in recent years, which is still on the rise, with a vibrant young population and an expanding middle class.” – said Prime Minister David Cameron on arrival in Vietnam on 29 July.

Cameron visited Vietnam in the context of the two nations celebrating the fifth anniversary of bilateral strategic partnership and was welcomed as Vietnam’s "top ranking economic partner in Europe, and the world." He met with Vietnam’s top leaders including his counterpart, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and President Truong Tan Sang, and other high ranking officials.

The two Prime Ministers determined that economics continue to be the priority for bilateral cooperation. The UK looks to double its bilateral trade with Vietnam by 2020 from the 2014’s US$4.5 billion.

According to Vietnam Briefing, the UK’s total registered FDI into Vietnam is US$2.7 billion, and is anticipated to reach the target of the 2010 UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement at US$3 billion in a near future.

Cameron also encourages British businesses to enhance investment Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City.  Key opportunities for Britain and British businesses include advanced engineering, infrastructure development, banking and financial services, insurance, oil and gas.

The two Prime Minister witnessed and appreciated recent cooperation among businesses of the two nations such as the followings among others:

• The Rolls Royce’s and Vietnam Airlines’ signing of £340 million of engines for the Airbuses;
• Harvey Nash’s announcement to set up a Vietnam-UK Technology Centre.

As for education, the two Prime Ministers reconfirmed the UK’s support for Vietnam in English and skills training, and capacity building for Vietnamese senior management cadre.

Education collaboration highlighted during this visit includes:

• Newton Fund which provides GBP10 million over five years is part of the UK government’s support in research collaboration between the two countries. The British Council manages part of this funding.
• An agreement between the British Council Vietnam and Nam Dinh province about an 2015-16 pilot expert English language provision to teachers in the province before reaching at least 160 teachers a year for the next six years. This is part of the ‘National Foreign Languages 2020 Programme’ to improve English language teaching across the country.
• The effective running of the VN-UK Institute for Research and Executive Education (IREE), a British Council managed project, is fundamental to the success of the Vietnam-UK University project in Danang in the future.
• A Memorandum of Understanding among the three UK-based institutions, i.e. ICAEW, British University Vietnam (BUV) and UHY ACA Ltd., on delivering ICAEW Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business to BUV students.

Sources:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/29/david-cameron-first-british-pri...
www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnam-uk-pivot-asean.html/
enews.andi.vn/NewsDetail.aspx?4336588.200056080
www.finchannel.com/index.php/society/business-education/item/47482-new-a...
www.buv.edu.vn/en/landing-page/876-uhy-cfab-study.html
and other news articles in Vietnamese