 Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc (Photo: VNA) |
Since 2015, the two countries have accelerated the exchange of high-level visits, including a visit to the US by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2017, and a visit to Vietnam by President Donald Trump later the same year.
"In December 2016, following Mr. Trump’s victory in the US election, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had a long phone conversation with Mr. Trump on certain areas. Mr. Phuc then became the first leader from Southeast Asia to visit the Trump White House, while President Trump made Vietnam his first stop in Southeast Asia during his first year in office. We’ve noticed friendly posts about Vietnam on the social media accounts of senior US leaders following visits to Vietnam.", said Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc at the 30th National Diplomatic Conference in Hanoi.
The two countries leaders’ mutual trust and respect have laid a firm foundation for bilateral agreements in all fields. It is estimated that 30,000 Vietnamese are currently pursuing degrees at universities and colleges in the US. Last year, the two countries worked together to open Fulbright University in Ho Chi Minh City.
The two have worked closely at multilateral forums such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, ASEAN, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
"Our goal is to ensure a favorable political environment to develop the Vietnam-US bilateral ties, especially in economics, trade, and investment. It’s also very important to increase bilateral connections to make the new US administration realize how Vietnam is important to the US regional policies. We should make it clear that a stronger Vietnam will surely contribute to Vietnam-US cooperative ties and overall cooperation in the Asia Pacific. This message of ours has been conveyed to and acknowledged by the US.", elaborated Ambassador Ngoc.
There is a huge potential for further cooperation between Vietnam and the US.