Vietnam, United Kingdom Endorse New Economic Contracts

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Oct. 27 – The Vietnam-UK Business Forum 2009 held in London last week has led to the signing of a number of contracts including a US$1.5 billion project to build a thermo-electricity center and US$1.5 billion project to build a seaport warehouse.

During the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said that Vietnam always attached importance to friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with the United Kingdom more so in fields of economics, trade, investment, education and training.

British Ambassador to Vietnam Mark Kent said that Vietnam is an attractive destination with many opportunities for British entrepreneurs and a positive outlook for long-term investment in Southeast Asia. The British Investment Promotion Agency considers Vietnam one of the top ranking investment destinations after the emerging BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Bilateral trade between the two remains unbalanced in favor of Vietnam with Vietnamese exports to the United Kingdom amounting to US$1.7 billion last year, an increase of 19 percent. Last year, the United Kingdom sold US$273 million worth of goods to Vietnam, a 25 percent increase from the year earlier. Most of the United Kingdom exports comprised of power generating machinery and equipment, general industrial machinery and equipment, machine parts, pharmaceutical products, professional, scientific and control instruments.