President Vo Van Thuong was among 100 heads of state at the coronation of King Charles III of the UK, held in Westminster Abbey in London on May 6 (local time), at the invitation of the UK Royal Family.
On the occasion, the President had meetings with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
President Thuong warmly congratulated the King, the Queen, the British Royal Family and people of the UK. He said Vietnam attaches great importance to developing the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership, and expressed his hope that the King, the Queen and the Royal Family would continue to actively support multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.
He took the occasion to invite the King to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time.
King Charles III affirmed that the British Royal Family and the King personally always paid attention to and support Vietnam’s renewal and development as well as the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership.
The Vietnamese President also met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during which the PM said that the potential for bilateral cooperation was huge and wished to expand cooperation with Vietnam in various fields. He thanked Vietnam for supporting the UK in the negotiation on the country's participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
On the occasion, President Thuong met with the Presidents of the Philippines, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Austria, Mongolia, Zimbabwe and Israel, the Governors-General of Australia and New Zealand, the Vice President of Honduras, the Prime Ministers of South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the President of the European Council, and the OECD Secretary General.
During the meetings, the leaders agreed to further bilateral ties in the coming time, contributing to peace, development and prosperity of the region and the world.
As part of his trip to the UK, the Vietnamese President had meetings with British leaders.
The Vietnamese leader met with the UK’s House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, House of Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, among others British officials.
During the meetings, he rejoiced at positive developments of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership in the context that the two countries were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties.
The British officials shared their view on the significance of Thuong's visit, stressing Vietnam was a leading partner of the UK in the region as the European nation was accelerating the implementation of its Indo-Pacific strategy.
They also noted with pleasure the dynamic developments of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership over the past more than 10 years in all fields, and agreed to continue increasing all-level delegation exchanges in all the channels of Party, State, Government, parliament and people-to-people exchange, while further fully and effectively materialising the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and bilateral cooperation mechanisms like the defence policy dialogue and the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
The two sides expressed their wish to expand and deepen the bilateral cooperation in such potential spheres as national defence-security, green economy, climate change response and renewable energy.
Thuong suggested the UK help Vietnam in finance and technology, and raising the country’s capacity within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, towards fulfilling its commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which took place in the UK in 2021.
Regarding cooperation at regional and international forums, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate and support each other in multilateral frameworks like ASEAN-UK cooperation, the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council for 2023-2025, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The British officials affirmed their support for Vietnam and ASEAN’s stance on the South China Sea, known in Vietnam as the East Sea, the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China.
On Saturday afternoon, President Thuong left London, concluding his programme to attend the coronation of King Charles III of the UK at the invitation of the Royal Family and of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.