Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo: VGP)

(VOV) - The US media today had deep coverage of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s official visit to Vietnam to foster multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. The State Department website carried the full text of Clinton’s speech at the joint press briefing following talks with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, in which she underlined the development of Vietnam-US relations and said the two countries are working on everything from maritime security and nuclear nonproliferation to public health and disaster relief. The Secretary of State highly appreciated Vietnam’s role in the lower Mekong region and in Southeast Asia, particularly its contributions to a collaborative, diplomatic resolution to settle border disputes and reduce tensions in the East Sea.

The Wall Street Journal ran a long article about Clinton’s visit to several ASEAN nations, including Vietnam, which said the Secretary’s important meetings with Vietnam’s top leaders reiterated both sides’ determination to boost political and trade ties.

News.yahoo.com posted an article by AFP on the Secretary’s interest in trade ties with Vietnam. Clinton said Vietnam has witnessed remarkable changes and the cooperation between the two countries is steadily growing. The Secretary stressed that the US and Vietnam have shared important strategic interests in issues like the East Sea and agreed with FM Pham Binh Minh that East Sea disputes should be resolved through peaceful means.

The Voice of America’s online newspaper said Clinton urged attendees at a business forum in Hanoi yesterday to strengthen cooperation between the two countries for mutual development benefits. Clinton said the forum created opportunities for better mutual understanding and cooperation between the two countries’ businesses. She spoke highly of Vietnam’s high growth rate in such a gloomy global economy. The US and Vietnam are negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which will not only provide a foundation for development but also improve Vietnam’s competitiveness in the world market. The Secretary called on US enterprises to seek investment opportunities in the Vietnam market while expressing her hope that the Vietnamese government will improve its investment environment to encourage foreign companies. Since 2010, bilateral trade has increased 40% to 22 billion USD and the US is now the 7^th biggest investor in Vietnam. Clinton said the US is proud to be Vietnam’s biggest importer.

VOA quoted FM Pham Binh Minh as saying that investment and trade will always remain a motivation for Vietnam-US relations, especially after Clinton’s visit.