Strengthening Vietnam-UK railway and aviation cooperation
Vietnam and the UK are expanding cooperation in the fields of aviation and railways, especially in major projects such as Long Thanh Port and the North-South high-speed project.
On the afternoon of July 29, in Hanoi, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh received and worked with British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew to strengthen cooperation in the fields of railways and aviation between the two countries.
Minister Tran Hong Minh affirmed that in the fields of construction and transportation, Vietnam and the UK have had many active cooperation activities in the fields of aviation, climate-compatible growth (CCG), digital transformation, and BIM (building information modeling).
Notably, aviation cooperation (Air Transport Agreement signed in 2011), according to which, Vietnam Airlines is operating flights from Ho Chi Minh City to/from London (LHR) and from Hanoi to/from LHR with the transport volume in the first 5 months of 2025 reaching 61 thousand passengers, an increase of 9% over the same period in 2024. The seat utilization rate reached nearly 87%.
According to Minister Tran Hong Minh, Vietnam is currently considered one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the region, with an average passenger growth rate of 5-6% per year, with the goal of reaching 150 million passengers by 2035 and 200 million passengers by 2040 – nearly double that of 2019.
Vietnam has also achieved Category 1 Certification (CAT 1) in aviation safety supervision – facilitating the expansion of its international flight network.
In particular, the Long Thanh International Airport Project – Phase 1 is being urgently implemented and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, which will be a highlight to elevate Vietnam’s position in the regional and global aviation industry.
The Minister welcomed the cooperation initiative between Swire Group and HAECO Company in the Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Inspection Center (MRO) project at Van Don Airport, Quang Ninh province.
This is an important cooperation model, both directly serving the development needs of the domestic aviation industry and creating a high-quality supporting industrial value chain.
Regarding the railway sector, according to Minister Tran Hong Minh, this is a type of transport that plays a particularly important role in transporting passengers and goods. However, due to many historical and objective factors, the railway system in Vietnam in recent years has not received adequate investment, and its development is still limited compared to the requirements of a rapidly growing economy.
Faced with that situation, the Vietnamese Politburo has set out the orientation for the development of Vietnam’s railway transport to 2030, with a vision to 2045, in which it identifies the goal of developing modern and synchronous railway transport to promote rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, meeting the goal of Vietnam becoming a high-income developed country by 2045.
Railway transport will play a key role in the North-South economic corridor, the main East-West transport corridors and passenger transport in major cities.
Currently, the Vietnamese Government is promoting the implementation of a number of key projects such as: railway lines connecting with China; North-South high-speed railway project; urban railway lines in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
For the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, the Vietnamese National Assembly has approved the Project Investment Policy with a total route length of about 1,541 km, double track gauge of 1,435 mm, design speed of 350 km/h, total estimated investment of more than 67 billion USD. The implementation progress strives to be basically completed by 2035.
“The project is currently selecting a project management consultant and a consultant to prepare a Feasibility Study Report. This is a large, complex project that plays an important role in the socio-economic development of Vietnam, while we have no experience in implementing it, so we really need the participation of consulting companies with great capacity and experience in the world. I believe that, as a bridge between the British Government and Vietnam, the Ambassador will continue to support and accompany the Ministry of Construction in the process of implementing strategic cooperation programs, for the sustainable development and prosperity of both countries,” said Minister Tran Hong Minh.
On the part of the British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew, after more than half a century of cooperation, the bilateral relationship between the two countries has been constantly strengthened and developed.
In particular, since 2010, the two countries have upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership and expressed their joy that bilateral trade turnover has reached more than 8 billion USD in 2024.
Ambassador Iain Frew said that last June, the British Business Association in Vietnam also met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to discuss cooperation and development in the field of trade between businesses of the two countries.
“Over the past years, the British Government has worked with partners in Vietnam to support human resource development in the global infrastructure development program, introduce construction contracts, BIM (building information modelling) … and hope to have more opportunities to cooperate with Vietnam. I also look forward to hearing about the Ministry of Construction’s plans for major projects that the ministry will prioritize in the coming time, especially in areas where British businesses have expertise and experience to support,” Ambassador Iain Frew shared.
According to the Ambassador, the fields of infrastructure, digital transformation, green development, etc. have much potential for further development. After more than half a century of cooperation, the bilateral relationship between the two countries has been constantly strengthened and developed. In particular, since 2010, the two countries have upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership and expressed their joy that bilateral trade turnover has reached more than 8 billion USD in 2024./.
