State President Vo Van Thuong speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations, San Francisco, November 15, 2023.

Mr. Thuong said Vietnam supports the consolidation and improvement of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms and the strengthening of international coordination to reduce tensions, prevent and end conflicts, address economic, cultural, social, and technological development issues, and respond to non-traditional security challenges.

“Vietnam is ready to contribute to the shared international effort to mitigate climate change, protect the environment, and participate in United Nations peacekeeping activities and international humanitarian relief,” he noted.

Mr. Thuong said that since Vietnam and the US normalized their diplomatic ties in 1995, and especially since establishing a comprehensive partnership in 2013, their relationship has developed strongly and substantively.

State President Vo Van Thuong holds a dialogue with scholars of the Council on Foreign Relations.

In September, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joe Biden issued a joint statement on elevating Vietnam-US relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he said.

“Never before has the relationship between Vietnam and the US developed as well as it does today. Former foes have become Comprehensive Strategic Partners. This is a model of healing and building post-war relations, a result of joint efforts by generations of leaders and the people of the two countries. US leaders have expressed their support for a 'strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous' Vietnam,” said President Thuong.

He insisted that Vietnam sees the US as a strategically important partner in its foreign policy, saying he believes in the bright prospects of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership because it is consistent with the interests of the two peoples, and greater peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his hope that the community of US researchers and scholars, including CFR, will participate in and support this process.

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