Around 60 Royal Navy and Royal Marines are currently taking part in a five-month French naval deployment to the Indian Ocean and Far East, aboard French assault ship FS Mistral.

The arrival of UK maritime personnel in Ho Chi Minh City further strengthens the UK’s Defence relationship with Vietnam, and while docked, UK sailors and marines, alongside French colleagues, will meet with personnel from the Vietnam People’s Navy to compare national maritime operating procedures and exchange experiences.

Two Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopters are also embarked with France’s annual Jeanne d’Arc naval deployment, which will include port calls in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Japan, Guam and Australia.

Minister of State for the Armed Forces Mike Penning said:

“Alongside French forces, our world class Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel are flying the flag for Britain in Vietnam, one of our important partners in the region.

“This deployment continues to show the flexibility of our Armed Forces to work with our partners, particularly with France, and contribute to international maritime security.”

The UK continues to work globally alongside Vietnam, both of our countries contributing personnel to the UN peacekeeping mission South Sudan.

Additionally, the UK regularly carries out Defence Engagement with Vietnam, and last year a Royal Navy dental team deployed as part of Pacific Partnerships 16, a multinational capacity building exercise led by the US. This year a small team of Army medics will travel to Vietnam to take part in Pacific Partnerships 17.

During the Jeanne d’Arc deployment, UK maritime personnel will also take part in multilateral amphibious exercises. This reflects our commitment to exercise at the highest levels with close partners in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan and the US, and demonstrates the UK’s ability to operate seamlessly alongside French forces in particular.

On 17 April the Federal Government of Somalia and the Presidents of Somalia’s Federal Member States agreed a historic political agreement, to integrate regional and federal forces into a coherent National Security Architecture capable of gradually taking on lead responsibility for providing security.

The UK is playing a leading role in international support for improved security in Somalia, and will now provide an additional £21 million of funding. This will complement existing UK support, including training by British Military personnel of Somali National Army and African Union forces, police mentoring, and work on stabilisation and Countering Violent Extremism.

Security will be a key theme of the London Somalia Conference on 11 May, which will bring together the new Somali Federal Government, Federal Member States and international partners to accelerate progress and to agree the new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on track towards increased peace and prosperity by 2020. Somalia will continue to need substantial support across security, political reform and economic and social development to secure and build on the progress it has made over the last five years.

At a time when half the Somali population are without reliable access to food, the Conference is an opportunity to step up the international response to the ongoing drought and humanitarian need. Continued international support is needed to prevent widespread famine, without which the political and security progress Somalia has made since 2012 could be set back. More information on what the UK is doing to address the humanitarian crisis and save lives can be found here.