HANOI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom (UK), the Duke of York, will visit Vietnam from Sept. 7-10, aimed at helping boost friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, a spokesman for the foreign ministry announced Thursday.

    The approaching visit is an opportunity for beefing up the fine friendship and cooperative ties, including those on economy, trade and investment between Vietnam and the United Kingdom, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said at a regular press briefing.

    The prince is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem. He will also attend the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

    In 2007, UK investment in Vietnam reached 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, and UK-Vietnam trade stood at 1.8 billion dollars, according to the British Embassy in Vietnam.