Continuing our celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Viet Nam at 23 Grafton street, this week we were delighted to be joint by His Excellency Nguyen Hoang Long, Ambassador of Viet Nam to the UK and Mark Garnier MP, recently appointed Trade Envoy to Viet Nam.
In 2020, the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in Viet Nam was £932 million ($1,242 million) and bilateral trade increased 11% since the signing of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in 2020.
Viet Nam is set to add 36 million people to its middle class by 2030, positioning itself as one of the world’s fastest growing middle-class population. This driving opportunities energy and infrastructure, technology advancement, financial services, life sciences and health and education.
Throughout the event, Mark Garnier highlighted to our members few of the main opportunities of trade between the two countries, which he focused on during his last trip to Viet Nam in early March:
- Continuing to increase the volume of exports and important between the two countries
- Climate change and greening of economy is an important agenda in the UK and Viet Nam bilateral relationship. This being supported by the G7 agreement to support Viet Nam to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Main opportunities are in offshore windfarms and solar energy
- Green finance is in huge demand in Viet Nam and represents a great opportunity of growth for UK enterprises
- Education is a sector of high demand with a growing middle class demanding knowledge and high quality education. There is a big presence of British schools in Viet Nam, however these schools tend to be expensive, so opportunities for alternative qualifications and specific skills development are in high demand
- Variety of opportunities in tech, financial services, life sciences, and health
