U.K. to become Vietnam's fifth largest investor

(SGT-HANOI) The U.K. would become Vietnam's fifth largest investor if BP signed a US(USDollar) 1.8-billion deal with Vietnam in the near future, the British Embassy's trade counselor, John Wales, said at a news briefing in Hanoi yesterday.

He said his country is currently the 13th largest investor in Vietnam, but with the current US(USDollar) 716 million worth of investments, is the largest European investor here.

In 1998, two-way trade between Vietnam and the U.K. reached some 300 million pounds, with Vietnam exporting 200 million pounds worth of goods, mostly clothing and footwear.

(The Saigon Times Daily June 4, 1999)