A Memorandum of Understanding on Information and Communications cooperation was signed today by British Ambassador, Mark Kent, and Vietnamese Vice Minister of Information and Communications, Do Quy Doan.
Mark Kent and Do Quy Doan, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam respectively, signed the MOU which represents the wish of both party’s to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in the areas of information and communications highlighting the following:
* Exchanging information, experience, opinions and enhancing cooperation in drafting laws and regulations in the areas of information and communications.
* Encouraging and supporting cooperation between enterprises of the two countries in the information and communications sector, to support the development of infrastructure and provision of information and communication services.
* Strengthening and attaching priority to cooperation in the area of human resources development and supporting training programmes on information and communication.
* Encouraging and supporting exchanges and cooperation between experts and technicians from both countries in research and development of new services and technologies.
* The MOU also specifies cooperation activities in the media sector, including enhancing dialogue between relevant specialised organisations and agencies about the role of the media in society. Exchanging views on ways to improve and implement regulations relating to media activities in Vietnam and strengthening cooperation in training and improving the skills of Vietnamese journalists with a view to creating a professional and highly interactive media in Vietnam.
The MOU is a concrete sign of cooperation following the signing of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Declaration in September 2010.
Signing of the MOU is particularly significant as it comes just one day before the visit of a delegation of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam led by Vice Minister Do Quy Doan to learn about media activities in the UK.
The delegation is expected to have a meeting with Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Jeremy Browne. They will also pay visits to the BBC, Reuters and thePress Complaints Commission.
This is the first high-ranking Vietnamese visit to the UK following the establishment of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership.
