US media delve into Vietnamese PM’s US visit

Hanoi (VNA) – A number of newswires and prestigious organisations have published articles commenting on the US visit by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from May 29-31.

An article published on Bloomberg.com on May 29 said PM Phuc is to convince President Donald Trump to advance trade ties that blossomed under the Obama administration.

In an interview granted to Bloomberg Television, the PM said he plans to highlight all the US jobs that Vietnam supports through the imports of American goods like airplanes, engine turbines and maize, thus, promises of American jobs will persuade the host to focus more on the strategic benefits of closer trade and security ties.

“The Trump administration is very interested in advancing the relationship with Vietnam because it sees the strategic role Vietnam places in Asia,” he said.

In recent years, Vietnam and the US have also found common ground on issues regarding regional security.

The same day, the Asia Sentinel ran an article by former US diplomat David Brown, saying that during the Obama years, Washington and Hanoi forged a strategic entente – unofficial, of course, but increasingly real, and Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam last May was therefore a triumph.

Brown wrote that the US and Vietnam might agree to explore a bilateral trade pact that would entail many Trans-Pacific Partnership-like trade reforms. To the extent that’s true (official confirmation is lacking on both sides), jump-starting bilateral trade talks will be at the top of PM Phuc’s agenda when he visits Washington this week.

Commenting on the visit, Dr. Jonathan D. London, a leading scholar of contemporary Vietnam and the global economy-politics at the Netherlands’s Leiden University underscored the great importance of the visit, saying that a great deal has changed in Vietnam and in its relations with the US, particularly in the two decades since the governments of the two countries normalised ties, and especially within the last several years. The two countries have come to view each other as indispensable strategic partners, especially in trade and security matters. Therefore, the visit not only portends the development of US-Vietnam bilateral relations and the future prospects of Vietnam’s development, but the White House’s intentions with respect to East Asia.

Meanwhile, the Washington Times daily on May 29 ran an article entitled “Vietnam’s Prime Minister White House visit offers US opportunity to define Asia policy”.

Reviewing bilateral ties over the past two decades, it said trade between the two nations has nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops 52 billion USD. The US exports to Vietnam increased by 43.2 percent in 2016, the largest increase among America’s top 30 trade partners and the only one with double-digit growth.

In conclusion, the article suggested the US take steps required to recognise Vietnam’s market economy status, ensure maritime security and safety with increased joint naval exercises, increase educational linkages between American universities and Vietnamese higher education institutions.

It recommended cooperating in the field of science research on regional and global climate change issues, especially in the Lower Mekong Delta while addressing the impact of Agent Orange and the removal of unexploded ordnance in Vietnam.-VNA