US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. (Photo: AFP)

In Ho Chi Minh City, Sherman will meet with municipal Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen and speak at Fulbright University Vietnam. 

In Hanoi, she will meet with Vietnamese officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, and Vice Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc to emphasize the strength of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and US support for a strong, prosperous, and independent Vietnam. 

She will also announce additional support for surveying and clearing unexploded ordnance. Deputy Secretary Sherman will discuss supply chain resiliency with private sector representatives and, together with Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, launch a USAID project to counter wildlife trafficking in Vietnam. 

Meanwhile Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), Todd Robinson, is travelling to Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos from June 6 to 17 to consult and deepen cooperation with regional partners on transnational criminal threats.

In Vietnam, Robinson will meet with Vietnamese government and law enforcement officials to discuss priority law enforcement issues, maritime security, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. 

He will also preside over the launch of the Department of State-funded “Strengthening Justice for Children in Vietnam” program, which aims to counter child trafficking and improve child protection in the criminal justice system, implemented by the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF. 

Robinson will then tour two INL-funded training facilities built for the Vietnam Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries Resources Surveillance.