New British Ambassador to Vietnam presents credentials to the President
The newly-accredited British Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Giles Lever, highlights the warmth of the Vietnam-UK relationship and set out his plans to enhance this.
The UK Ambassador Mr Giles Lever presented his Letter of Credentials to the Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang on 10 September 2014
The UK Ambassador Mr Giles Lever presented his Letter of Credentials to the Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang on 10 September 2014. During the meeting the President and the Ambassador discussed the breadth of the bilateral relationship, their commitment to develop this further, and their determination to strengthen bilateral cooperation on international issues of mutual concern.
Speaking after the event, Ambassador Lever said:
I am delighted to present my credentials as the UK’s ambassador to Vietnam. 20 years ago, I started my diplomatic career as the Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Hanoi. There have been a lot of changes in Vietnam since then, but the warmth of the Vietnamese people is a constant.
The Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership provides an excellent foundation for further development of the relationship between our two countries. I look forward to working closely with the Vietnamese government and people to achieve this. My top priority is to strengthen our trade and investment relationship and to ensure that the UK is Vietnam’s partner of choice for education, science and innovation. In addition, we want to develop a closer partnership on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including climate change, defence and security; and to continue to support Vietnam’s own sustainable development.
Note to editors:
Strategic Partnership Agreement:
The Strategic Partnership Agreement was signed in London on the 8th September 2010 by the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Vietnam H.E. Pham Gia Khiem and the then Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK H.E. William Hague.
Under the Agreement, the UK and Vietnam commit to intensifying cooperation in the following areas:
- Political – diplomatic cooperation
- Global and regional issues
- Trade and Investment
- Sustainable socio-economic development cooperation
- Education, training, science and technology
- Security and Defence
- People to people links