Namespace declaration with prefix cannot have an empty value in XML literals
An XML namespace declaration in an XML literal does not include a namespace value. For example, the following code will cause this error:
Dim book = <book xmlns:ns=""/>
Error ID: BC31184
To correct this error
Include a valid namespace in the XML namespace declaration, or remove the XML namespace declaration from the XML literal.
As an alternative, you can use the Imports statement to identify a namespace prefix for the empty namespace. For example:
Imports <xmlns:ns="">
See Also
Reference
Imports Statement (XML Namespace)