Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 1, 2013

Vietnam, UK enhance cooperation with Trong's visit
Vietnam Communist Party’s Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong is visiting Europe including the UK from 17 to 24 January. Tuoi Tre talked to Antony Stokes, UK Ambassador in Hanoi.

* How do you see the significance of the visit?
We make commitment to develop bigger relationship with Vietnam and in order to do that, it’s important to work with the Party. The Secretary General is a guest of the government at the invitation of Prime Minister David Cameron, so this is not a Party-to-Party visit. Not just with this visit but also in other ways, we want to build stronger relationship with the Party.
* Will there be new areas of cooperation opening up during the Secretary General’s visit? Or will it be mainly a visit to boost mutual understanding?
- I have to say both. Boosting mutual understanding is something we would very much like to do. Moreover, it will drive specific cooperation forward in a range of areas. There is big business part on our agenda, including the commercial side that we are working on public-private partnership cooperation.
On education side, we are looking at establishing an international university in Da Nang and we would want to drive that forward. Anti-corruption is another area that we beefed up work a year and a half ago. Defense is another area that we hope to sign an agreement during the visit.
So there will be discussions in defense area, including firstly formal engagement through a dialogue; secondly, defense trade like procurement and sales; and finally, what we call “track 2”, which is cooperation among academic institutes and think tanks. So there is a strong substantive content to the visit. 
* What about “itchy” issues like illegal immigration or cannabis plantation, will they be raised during the visit?
- Yes. It is also a part of the agenda. I believe the Vice Minister of Public Security Ministry, Mr. To Lam, will be travelling with the Party delegation. We have growing and strong and positive cooperation between British government and Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security on issues you mentioned, especially on helping Vietnamese staying illegally in the UK to go back to Vietnam and have their life back in Vietnam. 
* Thank you, Ambassador. 

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