The year 2023 marks many important steps forward in Vietnam-US relations. Relations between the two countries have developed strongly and comprehensively in all areas, most notably the two countries' agreement to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development.
Speaking to reporters, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Dung shared that in 2023, delegation exchanges and high-level contacts took place very actively. Notably, there was a phone call between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and US President Joe Biden, President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam, and visits to the United States by Vietnamese State and Government leaders. This is the first time President Biden has visited Vietnam since taking office and also the first time Vietnamese State and Government leaders have visited the United States in the same year.
Notably, within the framework of President Biden's State visit to Vietnam in mid-September 2023, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on upgrading the Vietnam-US relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Joint Statement reads: “On September 10, 2023, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and President of the United States Joseph R. Biden Jr. met and held talks in Hanoi, Vietnam. The two leaders welcomed a new historic period of bilateral friendship and cooperation with the upgrading of the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development. The United States supports a strong, independent, prosperous and self-reliant Vietnam.”
The joint statement also affirmed that “this new chapter in the relationship between the two countries will bring the Vietnam-US partnership to new heights. Together, the two countries will realize the aspirations of their people for a bright and dynamic future, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in this important region as well as around the world.”
Speaking at a press conference after talks with President Biden in Hanoi on September 10, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said: “That partnership continues to be based on full respect for the fundamental principles that have guided the bilateral relationship over the past time, including respect for the United Nations Charter, international law, and each other's political institutions, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
According to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the contents of the new partnership inherit the existing cooperation contents between the two countries and bring them to a new level through promoting economic - trade - investment cooperation in the direction of innovation as the foundation, focus and driving force of the bilateral relationship; enhancing scientific - technological cooperation is a new breakthrough of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.
For his part, President Biden emphasized: “This is a very important step for both countries because it demonstrates the strength of the relationship itself as we confront challenges that have enormous implications for the future of the region and the world. We will strengthen cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, especially in building a more resilient supply chain for the semiconductor industry. We will also expand our economic partnership to further promote investment and trade cooperation between our two countries.”
Along with high-level visits, in 2023, according to Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung, the US side will also send many delegations of officials and parliamentarians to visit Vietnam, including 5 ministerial-level delegations, 4 parliamentary delegations and many delegations at different working levels. Regular bilateral dialogue mechanisms will continue to be maintained, including the Defense Policy Dialogue, Political-Security-Defense Dialogue and Human Rights Dialogue, etc.
Economically, top economic officials in the US cabinet have made a series of visits to Vietnam, notably the Secretary of the Treasury, the Trade Representative, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director General of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In the context of declining global trade, the United States continues to be Vietnam's largest export market with an export turnover of 94.5 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2023, accounting for nearly 30% of Vietnam's total export turnover. Vietnam's total import-export turnover with the United States in the first 10 months of 2023 continued to reach over 102 billion USD. Vietnam continues to be in the top 10 largest trading partners of the United States, with trade turnover increasing more than 4 times in just a decade, from 30 billion USD in 2013.
In addition, cooperation and connection between ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries continued to be strongly implemented. A series of meetings, exchanges and visits were organized, including many activities taking place on the occasion of visits by high-ranking leaders of the two sides. Dozens of agreements were signed.
In terms of investment, the United States continues to rank 11th among direct investors in Vietnam with 11.8 billion USD. If including investment through third countries, almost all major US companies are present in Vietnam. The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) organized the largest ever delegation of US businesses to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities.
In the opposite direction, many localities in Vietnam also organized investment promotion delegations to the United States. 2023 also witnessed the development of investment trends from Vietnam to the United States. Vinfast started construction of an electric vehicle factory in North Carolina. Vietnam also sent one of the largest business delegations ever to attend SelectUSA - the largest investment attraction event organized by the United States.
Regarding security and defense, in 2023, the two sides successfully held a Defense Policy Dialogue, agreeing to continue to effectively implement areas of defense cooperation that the two sides have agreed on, including overcoming the consequences of war, United Nations peacekeeping operations, and improving maritime security. The United States also sent the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to visit Da Nang port in June 2023, the third visit by a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam.
Regarding tourism, activities have recovered to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with US tourists returning to rank fourth among international visitors to Vietnam with a total of about 700,000 visitors in 2023.
On the other hand, cultural and educational cooperation has made many positive strides. Currently, there are over 25,000 Vietnamese students studying in the United States, ranking first among ASEAN countries. During the working visit of President Vo Van Thuong to attend the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the United States in November 2023, the leaders of the Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding on educational and training cooperation with representatives of the US Department of State, creating a framework for the two sides to further enhance exchanges and dialogue in this important field.
In addition, according to Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung, the two countries also continue to actively cooperate in the fields of health, disease prevention, environmental protection and climate change response. Cooperation and coordination in regional and international forums between Vietnam and the United States have also been further promoted./.
Mai Huong
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