Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung affirmed Vietnam’s readiness to share its information and experience with the UK in the battle against COVID-19 while talking on the phone with Minister of State at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Nigel Adams on April 16.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung holds phone talks
with Minister of State at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Nigel Adams

During the phone talks, the two diplomats discussed cooperation in the fight against the ongoing pandemic and ways to propel bilateral ties forwards.

Dung informed Nigel Adams about measures taken by Vietnam and asserted the Vietnamese Government’s determination to contain the pandemic, thus ensuring the safety of Vietnamese citizens as well as foreign citizens working and living in the country.

He also expressed his wish that the UK would share its experience and research regarding COVID-19 treatment as a way of helping Vietnam improve its community healthcare capacity in an attempt to roll back the global pandemic.

Dung proposed the UK offer medical support and optimal conditions to Vietnamese citizens living and working in the UK during the period of pandemic.

The UK official congratulated Vietnam on successfully holding the online Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 Response, which demonstrated the country’s proactive role in its capacity as ASEAN Chair 2020.

He hailed Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against the pandemic while hoping that the two nations would share information, step up cooperation in disease control within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, and lend their voices, especially when Vietnam takes on important roles in ASEAN and the UN Security Council in a bid to push ahead with international coordination in the tough fight.

Adams stated his appreciation for the Vietnamese Government’s donation of 110,000 anti-bacterial cloth masks to his nation, as well as its arrangement of flights carrying British citizens home safe and sound.

In the lead up to the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership this year, both sides pledged to further improve the efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms and reinforce bilateral ties across politics, economics, security, national defence, education and culture.

They also agreed to work hand in hand at regional and global forums when Vietnam serves as ASEAN Chair 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.