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Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on bilateralrelations with Vietnam. [190497]Mr. Alexander: UK-Vietnam bilateral relations are healthy and strengthening. Alongside growing diplomatic, trade and developmentlinks, our relationship is also diversifying into new areas such as education and culture, discussions on human rights, and fightinginternational terrorism and crime.This year alone, there have been a number of high level visits. In October, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister led theUK delegation to the Asia- Europe Meeting V Summit in Hanoi. In May, the Vietnamese President Tran Due Luong made an official visitto the UK, where he met Her Majesty the Queen and my r h F the Prime Minister. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Vietnam, led bymy hon. Friend, visited Vietnam in September.The Department for International Development's (DflD) fast growing aid programme is a key part of our strengthening bilateralrelationship. UK development assistance to Vietnam is increasing from £20 million in 2003 to £60 million in 2005. DflDhave just announced a new £10 million commitment to strengthen the Vietnamese Government's own poverty reduction programmes.The UK is one of the largest EU investors in Vietnam, with UK investment totalling approximately £2.2 billion and rising. Bilateraltrade also continues to grow year-on- year and, in 2003, amounted to £1.0 billion. UK trade and investment is set to increasefurther following the recent EU-Vietnam bilateral agreement on the terms of Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organisation. |