US President Joe Biden visits Vietnam: Expectations of increased economic cooperation

On August 29, it was officially announced that US President Joe Biden will visit Vietnam next September.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam

US President Joe Biden - Photo: AFP

According to Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang, President Joe Biden 's visit will take place on September 10 and 11 at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

America appreciates Vietnam

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Dr. Pooja Bhatt, a researcher in New Delhi (India), said that Mr. Biden's trip demonstrates the US's strategic engagement with the region and Vietnam in particular. Visiting Vietnam right after the G20-related meetings in India "demonstrates the importance of Hanoi in strengthening US engagement in the region at many different levels."

According to the schedule, Mr. Biden will arrive in Hanoi on September 10, right after attending the G20 Summit in India. Early September is also a busy period for Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ms. Harris will attend the US-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Indonesia from September 4 to 7. After visiting Vietnam, Mr. Biden will return to Alaska to attend the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Trung (Fulbright University Vietnam), the US President's working schedule proves that Vietnam plays an important role in the Indo-Pacific strategy, showing that the US is very serious about promoting bilateral relations with Vietnam.

"This arrangement also shows that it is likely that Mr. Biden is not just making a diplomatic visit, but also aiming to achieve a specific result," he said.

Dr. Le Hong Hiep (ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore) noted: "Mr. Biden will not attend the meeting with ASEAN but will attend the G20 Summit and visit Vietnam. This partly shows that he prioritizes Vietnam."

Expectations of economic cooperation

In announcements about the event, both Vietnam and the US emphasized the priority of further deepening bilateral relations.

"We believe that the visits by the two countries' senior leaders will further deepen the Vietnam-US relationship, bringing the bilateral relationship to stable, substantive and long-term development in all fields, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region as well as in the world," said spokesperson Thu Hang.

On the US side, the White House said that the two countries' leaders will "seek opportunities to promote growth for Vietnam's technology- and innovation-focused economy, expand people-to-people ties through educational exchanges and human resource development programs, combat climate change, and promote peace, prosperity, and stability in the region."

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Trung commented that Vietnam and the US have many common priorities in developing cooperative relations, for example in the fields of green economy and digital economy, especially in the context of Washington devoting many resources to the "friend-shoring" strategy - promoting production relations and supply chains between the US and countries with good relations.

In addition, according to Dr. Bhatt, Vietnam and the US are seeing many common interests, including the priorities Washington mentioned in its current new economic strategy. "Healthcare, energy, science, technology, maritime security... these interests are all increasingly relevant issues and require corresponding cooperative relationships," she told Tuoi Tre.

In his analysis of this issue, Dr. Le Hong Hiep noted that the US is Vietnam's largest export market and second largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching 124 billion USD in 2022.

Tuoitre.vn