Vietnam and the US Aspire for Enhanced Partnership in the Future
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam and the United States are intensifying their dynamic and robust cooperation efforts, with the goal of reaching a “new level of relations when conditions are right.” Foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang highlighted the significant progress made in the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, both bilaterally and in multilateral mechanisms across various fields.
Discussions are underway to deepen the Vietnam-US relationship, focusing on stability and substantiality, with the aim of contributing to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and development. Vietnam and the US established normalized relations in 1995, which were further upgraded to a Comprehensive Partnership in 2013.
Economic and developmental ties between Vietnam and the US are already strong and continue to grow. Bilateral trade reached over $123.86 billion last year, marking an 11% increase from 2020. The US is Vietnam’s largest export market and second-largest trading partner, while Vietnam ranks as the eighth largest trading partner for the US. US investment in Vietnam has exceeded $11 billion, ranking 11th among all countries and territories.
Education and training also play a significant role in the friendship between the two countries, with approximately 25,000 Vietnamese students studying abroad in the US each year. In terms of security cooperation, the US recently transferred two Hamilton-class vessels, the second-largest class in the US Coast Guard, to the Vietnamese Coast Guard under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.
Humanitarian cooperation, addressing the consequences of war, and dioxin decontamination at airports in Da Nang and Bien Hoa have been prioritized by both sides. Vietnam has been instrumental in assisting the US in locating missing soldiers from the Vietnam War, having returned the remains of over 730 service members to the US.
In a phone conversation between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joe Biden, the focus was on economic, scientific, and technological cooperation as driving forces in the relationship. President Biden affirmed Vietnam’s importance as a partner and expressed support for an “independent, self-sufficient, and prosperous” Vietnam. Additionally, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Vietnam in April, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Partnership, with both sides expressing optimism about further elevating the relationship to new heights based on recent positive developments.