The United Kingdom-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: What’s in it for tech?

On October 29, the United Kingdom and Vietnam agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), strengthening cooperation between the two countries within six key pillars, including:

This follows the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), signed in 2020 as an EU ‘rollover’, and the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2024. Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to effectively review and implement both agreements.

Tech and Trade:

Both governments committed to the expanded Memorandum of Understanding on Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation, focusing on healthcare, greentech, and transformative technologies. Future joint projects between universities, research institutes, government agencies, and businesses will aim to accelerate R&D and commercialisation of technology.

Both sides emphasised facilitating further market access through protecting intellectual property rights, supporting digital trade, removing trade barriers, and supporting businesses to build robust supply chains using advanced technologies under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and CPTPP. Both governments committed to maintaining constructive dialogue though the Vietnam–UK Joint Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee (JETCO), through addressing trade barriers and routes to expand economic and investment opportunities on an annual basis.

Commitments to improve access to quality healthcare services include collaborating on digital health, exchanging experts, and joint projects to address health security, clinical services, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals.

As well as further announcement of more academic exchanges and joint programmes in AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and aerospace.

Environment:

Both nations pledged to create a new UK-Vietnam Clean Energy Partnership, aimed at supporting the initiatives under the JETP Framework, alongside UK business investment in clean energy, and technical cooperation across renewables, power grid infrastructure upgrades and coal phase-out initiatives.

Defence and Cyber Security:

Both sides pledged deeper information sharing and training related to cybersecurity, information security, and combating new and non-traditional threats. Both countries agreed to cooperate on best practice exchange and further coordinate on the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime to boost digital trust and resilience.

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