Gareth Thomas

UK minister for trade and investment Gareth Thomas will visit Vietnam from January 19 to 20 as part of his ten-day visit to Southeast Asia, which is intended to promote British business in the region and facilitate free trade talks.
 
The Vietnam visit will help the Minister “familiarise himself with British trade and investment activities as well as international development issues in Vietnam,” wrote an announcement from the British Embassy in Ha Noi. 

He will call on the Vietnamese government to follow up on last month’s joint economic and trade committee meeting in London, according to the Jan. 16 announcement.

Mr. Thomas will call on Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to discuss local and international trade and investment matters. He will also meet with Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat to learn about Vietnam’s progress on implementing World Trade Organization commitments.

The visiting trade minister will also meet with a number of UK business representatives while in Hanoi.

In the afternoon of Jan. 20, he is scheduled to call on the Chairman of the People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the business environment in southern Vietnam.

On Jan. 14, the British newspaper Telegraph reported that the UK trade minister said Southeast Asia is a bigger export market for British companies than either China or India. Telegraph said UK exports to Southeast Asia in 2007 were worth over £9 billion, compared to £5.22 billion with China and £4.65 billion with India.