Reporter: What is your assessment of the outstanding results of the Vietnamese Government delegation’s official visit to the UK, Germany and Ireland?

PM Dung: At the invitations of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Bertie Ahern, the Vietnamese Government delegation and I visited the three countries from March 3-10. My entourage and I received a warm welcome and the visit left me with many good impression about the land and people of Europe and prospects for cooperation between Vietnam and the three countries.

The visit is very successful. During talks and meetings, the leaders of the three countries and I compared notes on specific measures to promote bilateral relations in every field and to join efforts in solving international and regional issues in an open and sincere manner. The results of the visits are summed up as follows:

Firstly, the visit has helped strengthen and deepen relations between Vietnam and the UK, Germany and Ireland, bringing their relations to a new height for mutual benefit. Vietnam and the three countries agreed to enhance the exchange of visits by delegations at all levels, particularly at high level. The government leaders of three European nations expressed their expectations to visit Vietnam in the near future.

In Britain, the two sides agreed to boost multi-faceted cooperation to a new level of development under a “Partnership for Progress”. In Germany, they agreed to build the relationship into a partnership for sustainable development. In Ireland, they pledged to further develop the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries.

The three countries’ leaders expressed their admiration and appreciation for Vietnam’s tremendous achievements over the past 20 years, especially in maintaining a high economic growth rate of between 7-8 percent for years and implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), of reducing poverty.

They also spoke highly of Vietnam’s open external relations policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification, its enhanced role and position in the international arena and its positive contributions and responsibility for peace and international security when Vietnam is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Secondly, the visit created a drastic change in economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the three countries, making their joint cooperation more effective and maintain long-term stability, which is one of the visit’s main purposes.

The leaders of the three countries said they will encourage and actively assist the business circle of other friendly countries in doing business in Vietnam. British PM Gordon Brown said that Vietnam is one of the UK’s 17 priority trade partners and he will encourage and create the best possible conditions for UK businesses

to invest in Vietnam.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany will help its businesses increase operations in Vietnam to become Vietnam’s long-term partners.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern agreed to boost economic, trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam in line with the potential and aspiration of the two countries.

During the visit, my delegation and I received business associations and tens of the world’s leading companies of the UK, Germany and Ireland. The business circles in the three countries appreciated Vietnam’s attractive business environment and expressed their special interest in the Vietnamese market which, they said, boasts great potential and prospects particularly following Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is implementing its WTO commitments to opening up the market and reinforcing administrative reform.

On the occasion, Vietnamese businesses and the three countries’ partners signed a number of economic agreements and memorandums of understanding on business cooperation worth more than US$10 billion.

Thirdly, leaders of the UK, Germany and Ireland pledged to boost development cooperation with Vietnam by maintaining their ODA funding for Vietnam in the following years and helping the county implement MDGs, enhance poverty reduction and environmental protection. They praised Vietnam’s achievements in poverty reduction to become a pioneering country in the implementation of the UN’s MDGs.

Accordingly, the UK will give US$200 million directly to Vietnam’s poverty reduction strategy up to 2011, as part of its total US$500 aid commitment for the 2006-2011 period. The two sides pledged to closely co-operate in order to turn 2008 into a pivotal year in the fighting against poverty on a global scale.

Germany will consider maintaining its ODA commitments at about US$100 million for the 2008-2009 period while Ireland will put Vietnam on a list of nine priority countries to enjoy national assistance with an aid commitment of US$87.5 million euro.

Fourthly, leaders of the UK, Germany and Ireland agreed to strengthen co-operation with Vietnam in the fields of education and training, health, culture, science and technology, judicial reform, transportation, environment, energy and telecommunications, and advanced co-operation between Vietnamese and European universities.

Vietnam and the UK signed a co-operative agreement on education and training. They agreed to support projects to improve teacher training in Vietnam, to build Apollo University and to establish around 40-60 new school links between Vietnam and the UK. The UK universities also pledged to help train around 500 Vietnamese doctorates.

In Germany, the two sides signed an agreement on establishing Vietnam-Germany University in Ho Chi Minh City. Germany also committed to support training 80-100 Vietnamese doctorates in key scientific areas.

In Ireland, leaders of the two countries showed strong determination to foster bilateral co-operation in education and training, scientific research and university links. Ireland will provide more scholarships to Vietnamese students.

Fifthly, leaders of the three European countries and I discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern. We agreed to further strengthen co-operation under Asia-Europe framework as well as on international forums, especially at the United Nations. Leaders of the three countries pledged to assist Vietnam in developing multifaceted relations with the European Union, especially in its negotiations with the European Commission for an early recognition of the country’s market economy status and to accelerate negotiations on the signing of the Vietnam-EU agreement on partnership and co-operation.

In the UK, leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs signed an agreement to boost co-operation and political dialogue in the future. The UK supported and highly valued Vietnam’s organisation of the international summit on “One UN” initiative in late 2008.

Sixthly, leaders of the three countries praised overseas Vietnamese people’s contributions and affirmed to create favourable conditions for the overseas Vietnamese community to live and do business legally by stabilising their living conditions and protecting their legal rights.

It could be said that the visit aimed to boost comprehensive partnership relations between Vietnam and the EU, to raise mutual understanding and trust between Vietnam and the UK, Germany and Ireland and to make strong progress in economic, trade, investment, culture, science and technology, and education and training co-operation to lift relations between Vietnam and three European countries to new heights.

Reporter: What do you think of co-operation prospect between Vietnam and three European countries?

PM Dung: Over recent times, relations between Vietnam and EU countries in general and the UK, Germany and Ireland in particular have been developing strongly. With binding commitments and agreements, I think that in the near future the relations will further develop effectively in many fields, especially in politics, economics, education and training, science and technology for mutual benefit and for peace, co-operation and development in the region and the world. In addition to political determination, the signed contracts and agreements will lead to a new stage of development in co-operation relations between Vietnam and the three European countries and therefore will help accelerate their relations with Asia as well as Vietnam’s relations with the EU. This will serve as a bridge between Asia and Europe, a practical contribution on the part of Vietnam to promote international relations, as well as raising its position and role in the international arena.

Reporter: Thank you very much.