Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son meets US counterpart, National Security Advisor in Washington

Hanoi (VNA) – Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, who is accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during his US trip, met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington D.C on May 13 (local time).

At the meetings, FM Son thanked the US Department of State and the US National Security Council for helping promote the Vietnam-US relations over the years, especially through the close coordination in organising the ASEAN-US Special Summit. 

The two sides shared pleasure that US President Joe Biden and PM Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting on the sidelines of the summit, during which they engaged in practical discussions on the bilateral relations between the two countries as well as regional and international issues of shared concern.

FM Son expressed his delight at the positive development of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership over the years, as seen in mutual visits, including that by US Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021, as well as in meetings and telephone talks between officials of both sides. Therefore, bilateral cooperation in many areas such as economy, trade, COVID-19 prevention and control, education-training, science-technology, climate change response, and war aftermath settlement have been strengthened despite difficulties from COVID-19, he noted. 

Son said he hopes the US Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor will continue to make positive contributions to the development of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership.

For their part, Blinken and Sullivan said they are impressed by the breakthrough growth of Vietnam in the past years, and highly valued the important outcomes of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

The US officials affirmed that they hope the two sides will continue to promote their cooperation in all aspects of their comprehensive partnership.

Responding to the Vietnamese FM’s proposal to turn the US into one of the leading investors of Vietnam, Sullivan said that President Biden’s administration hope to increase investment and development cooperation with all partners in the region and the world, including Vietnam.

Secretary Blinken said that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is one of the US’s efforts to promote an economic mechanism that benefits all parties and responds to global economic challenges, especially during the post-pandemic period. He said he hopes to continue to hold more detailed discussions with Vietnam on the initiative’s contents.

The two sides agreed to continue working closely together at regional cooperation frameworks, especially the ASEAN and Mekong Sub-Region. Accepting the invitation of FM Son, Blinken and Sullivan said they will visit Vietnam when conditions permit./.