Vietnam-US relations have developed strongly in both quality and quantity since the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, according to Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong.
In July 2013, Vietnam and the US upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Partnership, after 18 years of normalizing relations. In the joint statement establishing the Comprehensive Partnership, for the first time the two countries clearly defined the principles of the relationship as "respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and especially respecting each other's political institutions".
According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US for the 2011-2014 term, this is a manifestation of the most important qualitative change in the relationship between the two countries, related to trust between Vietnam and the US.
"During the period from the normalization of relations in 1995 to 2013, the two countries had just begun to build trust. But since the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership, that trust has been significantly enhanced and consolidated," Ambassador Cuong told VnExpress .
During this period, US presidents from Barack Obama, Donald Trump to the current Mr. Joe Biden have repeatedly reaffirmed the US policy of supporting a "strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous" Vietnam.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and US Vice President Kamala Harris during talks at the government office on August 25, 2021. Photo: Giang Huy
After establishing a Comprehensive Partnership with Vietnam, the US has actively devoted resources and budget to addressing the consequences of war such as clearing bombs and mines, cleaning up Agent Orange, and searching for the remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers as well as US soldiers missing in action during the war.
"I was quite impressed by the images of recent US ambassadors such as Mr. Daniel Kritenbrink and Mr. Marc Knapper burning incense at the Truong Son martyrs' cemetery or walking with Vietnamese veterans on Ham Rong bridge," Ambassador Cuong said, adding that this demonstrated the US government's policy of wanting reconciliation and being responsible in resolving the consequences of war.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the US was the country that provided the most vaccines to Vietnam with 40 million doses and Vietnam was also in the top 10 countries that received the most vaccines from the US along with many other medical equipment. In return, Vietnam also provided a significant number of masks to the US when the world was in short supply of this medical item during the pandemic.
During her visit to Vietnam in August 2021, US Vice President Kamala Harris inaugurated the Southeast Asia Regional Office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Hanoi, one of four regional offices of CDC worldwide.
In regional and international issues, the US increasingly supports Vietnam's position, voice and stance, including the viewpoint of resolving disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of respecting the United Nations Charter, international law, and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
"All of the above statements of stance and practical actions have contributed to significantly enhancing trust between the two countries over the past 10 years. I believe this is the most important change because only by eliminating suspicion and enhancing trust can the two countries have substantive and effective cooperation and support for each other," he said.
In addition to qualitative changes, Vietnam-US relations have also witnessed strong quantitative developments since upgrading to Comprehensive Partnership, according to Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong.
Vietnam and the US have identified nine priority areas of cooperation, from politics and diplomacy, national security and defense to economics and trade, science and technology, education, health and environment, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchange. All nine areas have seen strong developments, especially in economics and trade.
In 2012, bilateral trade reached 25 billion USD, but by the end of 2022 it was 139 billion USD, an increase of 5.5 times. The US has become Vietnam's largest export market. In the past two years, Vietnam's exports to the US have reached a record of over 100 billion USD. Vietnam has entered the top 10, and last year was the top 7 trading partners of the US.
American businesses are increasingly paying attention to the Vietnamese market, while Vietnam also has businesses investing in production in the US.
In educational cooperation, the number of Vietnamese students in the US had increased to 30,000 before the pandemic. This is considered a very important resource for the country in the new development stage.
Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong pointed out several reasons to believe that the Vietnam-US relationship will continue to develop in the coming years. First, the relationship between the two countries has undergone many challenges since normalization and upgrading to a Comprehensive Partnership, but has still developed quite comprehensively and has been positively evaluated by both sides.
Faced with rapid changes in the regional and international economic and political situation, Vietnam and the US are having new opportunities for cooperation at a higher level, such as climate change, digital transformation, green economy, and food security.
"With dynamic development in recent years, as well as its increasingly enhanced role and prestige, Vietnam is also in a better position to cooperate with the US both bilaterally and multilaterally," said Mr. Cuong.
During her visit in July, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also assessed that Vietnam is now an important "player" in the international arena, playing a key role in many global supply chains such as textiles and electronic components. At the same time, Vietnam has emerged as an important node in the global semiconductor supply chain.
This is consistent with the policy of "making building resilience in the US semiconductor supply chain a top priority," according to Ms. Yellen.
10 years of Vietnam - US Comprehensive Partnership. Click on the image to see details
President Joe Biden 's state visit on September 10-11 is also considered an opportunity to deepen relations between the two countries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his congratulatory letter to Vietnam on September 2 emphasized that this is a "historic visit".
"Mr. Biden is not the first US President to visit Vietnam, but he is the first US President to visit at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. This is unprecedented and that itself speaks to the importance of this visit," said Mr. Cuong.
The former Vietnamese ambassador to the US also pointed out that since the two countries normalized relations, both Democratic and Republican presidents who visited Vietnam have done so. This shows that there is a high level of consensus within the US on strengthening relations with Vietnam in the coming years.
"We look forward to good results from President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam this time, contributing to elevating the relationship, commensurate with the expectations and meeting the interests of the people of the two countries, for peace, stability and development in the region and the world," said Mr. Cuong.
Vnexpress.net
Comment (0)