The United Kingdom and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1973. Since then, the bilateral partnership has spread to cover a wide range of issues, from high-level political contacts, growing trade and investment links, cooperation against international crime and illegal migration, strengthened education links to a fast growing DFID development assistance programme.

The first-ever visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to the UK took place in March 2008, which was a great success and laid a firm foundation for further UK-Vietnam cooperation. At their meeting in London on 5 March 2008, Prime Ministers Nguyen Tan Dung and Gordon Brown agreed to work together on five priority areas: trade and investment; development (including good governance, accountability and rule of law issues); international issues (including reform of international architecture, Security Council co-operation and climate change); education and tackling illegal migration and organised crime.

UK aid to Vietnam – now running at about $100 million a year – makes Britain one of the largest donors of grant aid to this country. UK-Vietnam trade has registered consistent double-digit growth over the past decade and currently stands at around $1.7 billion. The UK is also one of the EU's largest investors in Vietnam with investments totalling $1.4 billion. More than 6,000 Vietnamese students are now studying in the UK.

UK-Vietnam relations are excellent and are set to improve further.