Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc assessed President Biden's visit as an important milestone in Vietnam-US relations, demonstrating that the US values Vietnam's political institutions.
In an interview ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam on September 10-11, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc today assessed this event as "very special", as this is the first time a US president has made a state visit at the invitation of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The visit, which took place on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries, marked the first time that both a US President and his deputy visited Vietnam during the same term. This also continued the tradition of incumbent US Presidents visiting Vietnam over the nearly 30 years of bilateral relations.
According to the Deputy Minister, President Biden's visit shows that both sides highly value each other in their foreign policies and in their policies towards the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
"The visit shows that the US values Vietnam's political system, the role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese leaders," the Deputy Minister said, according to the interview published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"This is also a very important milestone in the journey of joint efforts of the two countries to realize the wish of President Ho Chi Minh stated in his February 1946 letter to US President Harry Truman, that is, Vietnam has a full cooperative relationship with the US."
Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc in an interview on September 8. Photo: BNG
Regarding Vietnam-US relations, Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc stated that economic, trade and investment cooperation is a high priority and is the focus, foundation and driving force for general cooperation in bilateral relations.
"In the nearly 30 years since the normalization of relations, trade between the two countries has grown remarkably and impressively," the Deputy Minister commented. He pointed out that two-way trade increased from 450 million USD in 1995 to 123 billion USD in 2022. Vietnam has become the 7th largest trading partner of the US, as well as the largest trading partner of the US in ASEAN. From 2022, the US will become Vietnam's largest export market with a figure of 100 billion USD.
The US has always been one of the leading investors in Vietnam, with more than 11 billion USD in direct investment as of 2022. In addition, there are investments through US company branches from third countries.
"What's new compared to before is that some Vietnamese enterprises have invested in the US with capital up to billions of USD, contributing to creating thousands of jobs for American workers," Mr. Ha Kim Ngoc emphasized.
The Deputy Minister said that in the coming time, the two countries will focus on areas such as supply chain cooperation, infrastructure development, high-quality human resource training, energy transition, digital economy, green economy and manufacturing industry development.
10 years of Vietnam - US Comprehensive Partnership. Click to see details
In addition to economics, the Deputy Minister assessed that cooperation in science, technology and innovation "will be a breakthrough field". The two countries will focus on creating a digital technology platform, a semiconductor ecosystem or artificial intelligence applications, as well as focusing on energy transition, biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
"Cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war is a bright spot, one can say a model in the cooperation between the two countries," Mr. Ngoc commented. In addition, Vietnam and the US will promote cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations, military medical training, disaster relief, and improving maritime and aviation capacity.
At regional and international forums, the two countries will also strengthen coordination within ASEAN, APEC, the United Nations and work together to address global challenges such as climate change, energy security, food security, water security, and health security.
Nguyen Tien
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