Vietnam (Hansard, 14 December 1994)

§ 9. Mr. John Marshall
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British relations, including trade relations, with Vietnam.

§ Mr. Goodlad
British relations, including trade relations, with Vietnam are now better than they have ever been. Our exports to Vietnam in the first three quarters of 1994 were up by 380 per cent. on last year.

§ Mr. Marshall
Does my right hon. Friend agree that Vietnam is a rapidly growing economy offering great potential to British industry? As English is one of the main languages of international trade, what are the Government doing to try to satisfy the thirst of the Vietnamese to learn English?

§ Mr. Goodlad
As my hon. Friend says, there is a great appetite in Vietnam for English language training. When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited that country in September, he promised to provide English language training for officials in key ministries. That has been delivered, and the British Council and the Voluntary Service Overseas have received much acclaim for their English language training programmes. We are considering how we can do more. English is extremely important to Vietnam as it develops international commercial relations.

§ Mrs. Clwyd
Does the Minister accept that the desperate problem of the 26,000 Vietnamese boat people still in camps in Hong Kong has to be sorted out—and not, as in recent months, by riot squads, tear gas and water cannon? I urge him to visit the camps, as I have, and to see for himself the awful circumstances in which those people live. Will he then, with the three Governments involved, urgently work out a practical formula to repatriate people in a humane and dignified way, instead of in straitjackets, as happened a few days ago?

§ Mr. Goodlad
The hon. Lady is right to raise the problem of the remaining migrants in Hong Kong camps. I have visited the camps myself a number of times ove the past 15 years, and we are working closely with the Vietnamese Government and the Hong Kong authorities to ensure that Vietnamese migrants leave Hong Kong well before China takes over in 1997.