UK-Vietnam cooperationulse centrally around education, according to Deputy Prime Minister's perspective.
The UK plays a significant role in Vietnam's education sector within the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2025. Education is considered a "bright spot" and a key pillar of bilateral cooperation, with the UK offering scholarships, institutional linkages, and collaborations with British universities such as the University of Southampton.
Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long emphasised the importance of education and training in advancing the partnership. During a recent meeting with British Ambassador Iain Frew in Hanoi, he welcomed UK support in expanding scholarship opportunities and English language popularisation efforts.
Ambassador Frew highlighted the strong ties in the education sector, with around 12,000 Vietnamese students currently studying at British institutions. He stressed the UK's continued support for education quality improvement, vocational education, and English language training.
The University of Southampton and Navitas, a global education group, are actively exploring cooperation in innovation, AI, and digital transformation in Vietnam's higher education. This collaboration could help Vietnam become a regional hub for international education, with a goal of hosting at least two more branch campuses of world-class universities by 2030.
Vietnam prioritises institutional reforms and infrastructure development to achieve this goal. Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long reiterated Vietnam's strategic focus on institutional reforms, infrastructure development, and the training of a high-quality workforce.
Both parties discussed strengthening institutional linkages and scholarship opportunities for Vietnamese students. The British Ambassador applauded Vietnam's efforts in human capital development, specifically mentioning four key Politburo resolutions, including Resolution 57 on driving breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the University of Southampton and Navitas. A representative from the University of Southampton expressed appreciation for Vietnam's regulatory openness to international education institutions and shared plans to boost collaboration in Vietnam's higher education sector.
The UK reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Vietnam in enhancing education quality and expanding access to scholarships. With expanding opportunities for collaboration across various educational fields, including general and vocational training and English-language education, the future looks promising for the continued development of the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership.
- The UK reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Vietnam in enhancing education quality and expanding access to scholarships across various educational fields, such as general and vocational training, and English-language education.
- Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long reiterated Vietnam's strategic focus on institutional reforms, infrastructure development, and the training of a high-quality workforce, which includes science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
- The University of Southampton and Navitas, a global education group, are actively exploring cooperation in innovation, AI, and digital transformation in Vietnam's higher education, focusing on making Vietnam a regional hub for international education.
- Both parties discussed strengthening institutional linkages and scholarship opportunities for Vietnamese students, with around 12,000 Vietnamese students currently studying at British institutions.
- A representative from the University of Southampton expressed appreciation for Vietnam's regulatory openness to international education institutions and shared plans to boost collaboration in Vietnam's higher education sector, including AI and digital transformation.
