LONDON — Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hòang Long and Minister for Industry in the UK Department for Business and Trade Chris McDonald have agreed to further step up cooperation in clean energy and trade during their working session in London.

At the working session, held on the occasion of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Tô Lâm’s official visit to the UK, the two sides discussed the active bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries in trade and energy.

At the event, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on clean energy cooperation with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and another MoU on product safety with the UK Department for Business and Trade.

The MoUs, built on the strong and effective partnership between the MoIT and UK counterparts in trade and clean energy, outline concrete cooperation directions and underscore the promising potential for future development under the key pillars of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established during Party General Secretary Tô Lâm’s visit to the European nation.

The MoU on clean energy cooperation establishes the UK – Việt Nam clean energy partnership framework, marking a strategic step forward in alignment with both countries’ net-zero emission and sustainable growth goals, and complementing a green finance cooperation agreement signed with Việt Nam’s Ministry of Finance.

Under this framework, the two sides will deepen and broaden their clean energy cooperation by expanding renewable energy development, enhancing power grid infrastructure and transmission, mobilising public and private financing for green transition, refining the legal framework to encourage clean energy investment and accelerating innovation and technology exchange to promote sustainable green growth in the future.

Meanwhile, the MoU on product safety reflects the two sides’ commitment to enhancing trade cooperation and fostering the healthy growth of bilateral goods trade. It aims to boost collaboration on measures to prevent unsafe products, enhance knowledge and awareness in product safety, and facilitate the exchange of experience and good practices in developing, managing and operating e-commerce platforms.

The signing of these agreements helps promote the effective implementation of existing cooperation frameworks and translates into action the commitments set out in the Joint Statement on upgrading the bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, generating positive impacts and contributing to promoting economic development in the two nations.

Immediately after the meeting with McDonald, Long attended a Việt Nam–UK business reception, organised by the UK Department for Business and Trade and chaired by the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Việt Nam, Matt Western, where he highlighted the key achievements of bilateral cooperation and outlined future directions and opportunities. — VNA/VNS