(VOVworld) - Vietnam and the UK have released a joint statement after a 2 day visit to the UK by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The statement said both sides agree to exchange visits of high ranking delegations to implement to goals of the 2013 Strategic Partnership Action Plan. They applauded the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the fight against corruption, in which the UK is the top donor in Vietnam. Both sides voiced their full support for the early approval of the Vietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). They continued to support efforts to build an ASEAN of peace, stability, cooperation and friendship, stressing the need to ensure free maritime navigation in the East Sea and to settle disputes by peaceful means based on the international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Both sides emphasized the importance of the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties signed in 2002 and welcomed steps towards finalizing the Code of Conducts between parties concerned in the East Sea.

Vietnam and the UK pledged to raise bilateral trade to 4 billion USD and British investment in Vietnam to 3 billion USD this year. They agreed to focus on key areas such as assisting Vietnam achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and cope with climate change. Both sides notified with satisfaction the increased defence ties between the two countries, reflected in the intention to open a Vietnam office of national defence attaché in London and the first visit to Vietnam by a British deputy defence minister.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on January 23 laid a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh memorial plate in London