Seminar examines ways to connect Vietnam and West Midlands of the UK
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Foreign Affairs for Provinces and the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK co-hosted a seminar titled "Connecting Vietnam-West Midlands", with the event focusing on the west-central region of the UK, in Birmingham on October 10 within the framework of a promotion programme for Vietnamese localities in the UK this year.
Those in attendance included Birmingham's Lord Mayor Chaman Lal, the UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy Mark Garnier, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnamese provincial leaders, alongside 100 representatives of local associations, organizations, and businesses.
In his address, Lord Mayor Lal said Birmingham boasts strengths in education, health care, finance, and commerce, whilst it is highly interested in reinforcing friendly relations and building co-operative ties with localities across the world, including those in Vietnam.
He also pointed out several potential areas of co-operation with Vietnamese localities, such as sci-tech, high technology, artificial intelligence, and industry.
The Trade Envoy Garnier stated that the West Midlands gives priority to development in various sectors, including industry, services, education, and culture.
He expressed his hopes that the visit of the local Vietnamese leaders will enable both sides to gain a better understanding about each other and contribute to further boosting investment and trade.
For his part, Ambassador Long, said with the UK's entry to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), two-way trade between the two countries will continue rising moving forward.
Vietnam needs logistics and services in the UK as a means of facilitating further connections to the European country and to establish the UK as a hub for Vietnamese exports to other markets such as the European Union (EU) and the United States, he assessed.
He added that Birmingham specifically and the West Midlands in general possess strengths and experience in green transformation, industry, education, health care, and more. When combined with the advantages of Vietnamese localities, this partnership can potentially bring about significant and practical benefits to all sides involved.
Through promotional videos and illustrative images, the Vietnamese local representatives provided concise and vivid information about the potential and strengths of their areas. They also introduced a list of projects in need of further investment in industrial production, high-quality agriculture, renewable energy, education, workforce training, tourism, infrastructure, and smart city development.
The UK partners expressed their wish to continue discussing and co-operating with the Vietnamese localities for the purpose of mutual benefits.
A representative of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce also shared bilateral collaboration opportunities in the fields of education, training and high technology, as well as how to effectively tap into opportunities arising from the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement.
The previous day saw a delegation of Vietnamese localities hold a working session alongside the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, visit a number of production and business facilities, and met with various UK partners.
