Prince Andrew, the Duke of York will have busy days in Vietnam during its millennium celebrations.
He plans to visit Vietnam from October 9 to 13 to represent the UK at the 1,000 years of Thang Long – Hanoi anniversary and to boost bilateral trade and investment.
He will firstly attend the gala dinner on October 9 and the marching ceremony at Ba Dinh Square on October 10. He will share in the celebrations with the people of Hanoi.
Following the signing of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership in September 2010, this visit aims to further strengthen relations between the two countries.
As UK’s special representative for international trade and investment, Prince Andrew visits Vietnam as an honourary guest of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In Hanoi, the Duke of York will formally witness the opening of the British University of Vietnam and acknowledge the establishment of the Duke of York Scholarship. He will also attend openings for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (at the National Hospital For Tropical Diseases), attend the opening of Standard Chartered Bank’s latest branch (in the presence of its new Vietnam CEO), attend the opening of Savills’ new facility and receive a sector briefing ahead of an urban development round-table in Ho Chi Minh City.
At a seminar on Public-Private Partnerships, he will deliver the closing remarks to help promote the concept. He will also present the first ever Vietnamese ACCA Simpson Scholar award at the ACCA scholarship award ceremony.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Duke of York will meet with the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City holding a round-table discussion with British companies on urban development, attend a British Community Charity Reception and meet representatives of UK companies in the financial services sector over a dinner on the same day. The following day, The Duke of York will meet with Vietnamese Entrepreneurs and attend a luncheon with UK companies in the Oil and Gas sector.
The Duke of York’s visit to Vietnam aims to raise the UK’s profile as a major trading and investment partner with Vietnam, highlight further investment opportunities for British companies in Vietnam, and encourage Vietnam to regard the UK as the main business gateway into Europe.
In 2009, UK's imports from Vietnam reached approximately USD1.8 billion and exports to Vietnam stood at about USD348 million. UK businesses are well represented by leading UK multinationals such as BP, Shell, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Prudential. Vietnam is the third largest EU investor (after France and the Netherlands) with 126 (ongoing) investments worth USD 2.22 billion as of June 2010 (source: Ministry of Planning and Investment).
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