The meeting, co-chaired by Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa, aims to find new incentives to increase co-operation between the two countries.
Expressing his wish to further deepen co-operation in areas such as education, energy and financial infrastructure, Minister of State Swire affirmed that JETCO’s eighth session offered an important opportunity to review all areas of co-operation in the spirit of strategic partnership that the two countries have built and developed over the past eight years.
He praised Vietnam’s priority policies in economic and educational development, creating an important foundation for a prosperous future.
Reviewing results from previous JETCO session, Deputy Minister Thoa said that the two sides have resolved five out of eight key issues raised at JETCO 7, including anti-smuggling, developing co-operation plans in civil nuclear field, improving capacity building on the implementation of foreign arbitration decisions between the Ministry of Justice and the British Embassy in Hanoi, and strengthening education programmes.
Regarding other issues, Deputy Minister Thoa revealed that as committed to at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnam is building a legal framework allowing foreign pharmaceutical companies exclusive rights to distribute their products in Vietnam.
Thoa expressed her hope that the UK would accelerate the implementation of the agreement on recognising certificates for Vietnamese sailors.
On the topic of commodities trade, the two sides also discussed skills, techniques, modes of transportation, warehousing and other technical issues.
The deputy minister suggested the two countries improve information exchanges and communication on methods of goods delivery and storage to enhance trade co-operation.
