Mr. Biden reads poems from the Tale of Kieu at a reception for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Washington, DC, in July 2015. Video: US BNG
US Ambassador to Vietnam Knapper praised the relationship between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Biden, saying that the two leaders found common ground from their first meeting.
"This is the first time a US President has visited at the invitation of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," US Ambassador Marc Knapper said at a press conference in Hanoi today, affirming that President Joe Biden and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong have maintained a good personal relationship over the past nearly 10 years.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong first met Mr. Biden, then the US Vice President, in 2015 during a visit to the US at the invitation of President Barack Obama. At a reception at the US State Department on July 7, 2015, Mr. Biden read the English version of two verses from the Tale of Kieu while raising a glass to celebrate Vietnam-US relations with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
"I think then-Vice President Biden and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong found common ground. They built a very good relationship from the beginning, citing verses from The Tale of Kieu. The two leaders also exchanged letters regularly in the following years and had an important phone call on March 29," said Mr. Knapper.
Ambassador Knapper at a press conference in Hanoi on the morning of September 6. Photo: Vu Anh
The US Ambassador said that President Biden's visit to Vietnam at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is "historic", reflecting the good personal relationship between the two leaders and showing "the respect we want to show to the General Secretary".
Mr. Knapper expressed his belief that the visit "will be very positive and extremely successful", showing the people of both countries how important the two governments consider the Vietnam-US relationship.
"The event highlights the personal relationship between the two leaders, as well as the increasingly deep relationship between the two countries," Ambassador Knapper affirmed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that US President Joe Biden will pay a state visit to Vietnam on September 10-11 at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong . This will be President Biden's first visit to Vietnam since he took office in early 2021.
Vietnam-US relations were normalized in July 1995 and upgraded to Comprehensive Partnership in July 2013. Vietnam-US trade reached more than 123.86 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 11% compared to 2021, and reached more than 51.2 billion USD in the first 6 months of 2023. The US is Vietnam's largest export market and second largest trading partner, while Vietnam is the US's 8th largest trading partner in the world, the largest in ASEAN.
10 years of Vietnam - US Comprehensive Partnership. Click on the image to see details
The first US president to visit Vietnam after the two countries established diplomatic relations was Bill Clinton in November 2000. Since then, every US president has visited Vietnam, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. After Trump, Biden is the second US president to visit Vietnam in his first term since 1995.
"Since the two countries normalized relations, every US president has visited Vietnam. This shows that the US values its relationship with Vietnam," Ambassador Knapper said.
He emphasized that in the 10 years since becoming Comprehensive Partners, bilateral relations have developed strongly in all areas such as trade - investment, defense - security, health, climate change response, energy, education, culture, people-to-people exchange, space, technology...
“I hope Mr. Biden’s visit will highlight all the work we have done, and look at ways to deepen the relationship in the future,” Mr. Knapper said.
Vnexpress.net
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