Let me begin by saying how pleased I am to have been appointed Abssador to Vietnam
and how much I am looking forward to working with the BBGV and its member companies during
my time here.
It is clear to me that we continue to see a surge of interest in Vietnam from both the British
Government the UK private sector. 2007 saw a hugely successful visit by the Lord Mayor of
the City of London accompanied by a high-level business delegation. This was followed in
September by a visit by Andrew Cahn, CEO of UK Trade & Investment, and the first meeting
of the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic & Trade Committee, an intergovernmental gathering, which
provides a forum for tackling barriers to bilateral trade and investment.
I am grateful to BBGV and its members for engagings with these visitors and the many others
that come here as part of trade delegations. Your help in arranging UK programmes for national
and provincial authorities is also highly appreciated.
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2008 promises to be an even busier year for all of us. In January, I was able to introduce a group of British companies to the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, H.E. Nguyen Tan Dung prior to his visit to the UK. That visit proved to be a great success as well as commercially significant for both countries. A number of contracts worth US$1.4 bn between British and Vietnamese companies were signed. In addition to this, a number of MoUs and Co-operation Agreements, with a total value of US$5.1 bn were also agreed. Above all, the Vietnamese business delegation had left a positive image of Vietnam as an attractive destination for UK investment. I firmly believe that trade relations and bilateral understanding have been enhanced considerably.
UK Trade & Investment hosted three events during January including a seminar on the benefits
of IP protection and two about the development and financing of Clean Development
Mechanism projects in Vietnam. Further events are planned over the course of 2008.Please do
get in touch with our trade and investment teams in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi if you would
like to find out more about our events.
I look forward to meeting more of you over the coming year and to a continued close
relationship with the BBGV.
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