I had the day off today to catch up on sleep and be with my children (unfortunately though it has rained most of the day so I got a chance to write up a blog entry).

I have been away much of the last two weeks. First to accompany Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on an official visit to the UK. Then with a visit to Vietnam by the Advocate General, and also attending a seminar on digital diplomacy which we co-organised with our good colleagues in the press department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And things were busy while I was away too – the Education UK fair in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, and a seminar on public diplomacy with MoFA.

We were pleased with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai’s visit. He spent a couple of days in London where he met with Lord Mandelson on trade issues, and David Miliband on foreign issues. Both meetings were very positive – the UK pledged to support Vietnam in its opposition to prolongation of anti-dumping measures which we believe to be unjustified, and we discussed cooperation in preparation for Vietnam’s Chairmanship of ASEAN. David Miliband even mentioned my blog (when discussing media). The Duke of York hosted a lunch for the delegation at Buckingham Palace with leading British businesspeople, and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Prince Andrew opened the Vietnam culture event. I was impressed with the level of interest in the business seminars we attended, which reinforces the finding that UK and international business remain interested in Vietnam. Vice Foreign Minister Cuong signed a cooperation agreement between Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the London School of Economics. And there were a number of bilateral meetings with UK businesses. And the weather remained good for nearly all the time, which always helps.

It was good to meet up again with Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Tran Quang Hoan and his wife. I think the Embassy in London is doing a very good job in boosting cooperation between our two countries. And I’m very grateful for them giving me a lift around London in their cars to accompany the delegation. We had some interesting talks about boosting further UK/Vietnam education cooperation. And I met up with Counsellor Nguyen Dac Thanh, who has just been posted to London ,and who we played football against a few weeks ago.

I believe it is important where possible for visitors to the UK to visit outside London. I know this can be more complicated in terms of logistics, but I think it opens up more possibilities. So I think it was very good that Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and his delegation were able to visit Rolls-Royce’s state of the art engineering complex in Derby – I hope we will soon see further strengthening of Rolls-Royce’s relationship with Vietnam. And then we went on to Manchester, to a trade and investment seminar held at Old Trafford – the home of Manchester United hosted by UKTI. Given that the last group of Vietnamese visitors I accompanied went to Grimsby Town, I guess there is a growing football link!

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and his colleagues then flew from Manchester to Dublin (where they were met by my Irish colleague Maeve Collins). I then stayed the night near Manchester airport before getting up at 4am the next morning to fly back to Hanoi via Heathrow. This involved repacking most of my case at the check-in desk at Manchester airport as the various papers and books I had picked up during my visit meant that I was 2 kg over my weight limit!

Once back in Vietnam, we welcomed a visit by the Advocate General of Scotland, Lord Davidson. This was his second visit this year and our links in the area of judicial cooperation are  developing well. Lord Davidson also met with colleagues at the National Assembly, and we launched a project for a website to promote links between National Assembly members and the public, which mirrors one already underway in the UK. It was very good to see Vice President of the National Assembly Kien attend and we had a good chat.

Next day, I met up with colleagues from FCO London digital diplomacy group Stephen Hale and Shane Dillon who were attending our digital diplomacy seminar, together with Rory Cellan Jones , BBC Technology editor, and other  BBC representatives. There were over 100 representatives from Vietnamese ministries and provinces, and media organizations. I found the day fascinating, and learned a lot about the digital landscape in Vietnam (eg through a very informative presentation by Mr Vu Minh Tri, General Director of Yahoo in Vietnam) and exchanged a lot of ideas about how to use modern communication techniques. In the evening, all the participants had a chance to meet up, and I invited some of my blog contributors such as Linh and some Facebook users from Hanoi. I owe a big thank you to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga for her great cooperation in organizing this event and in chairing it. And thanks too to the embassy communications manager Bui Cam Ha and webmaster Kieu Hong Trang. This is Cam Ha’s last week before she departs on maternity leave and so we wish her all the best and will miss her. We welcome her temporary replacement, Vu Hai Dang – who I am sure will carry on the good work!

Notes for Editors

See also Ambassador's Vietnamese language blog

Back to newsroom

Back to top