Several newspapers in the US, Australia and India ran articles on the historic official visit to the US by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

On July 7, The Washington Times dedicated part of its front page to feature the significance of the visit and US-Vietnam relations, emphasising that “despite the bitter past and ideological differences, Vietnam and America are now poised to embrace one another in an expanded comprehensive partnership.”

“The evolving partnership provides a mechanism to facilitate cooperation in political and diplomatic relations, trade and economic ties, science and technology, education and training, environment and health, war legacy issues, defence and security,” it wrote.

The article, titled “A new era in US-Vietnam relations: Arrival of Party Chief signals importance of partnership”, also highlighted that two-way trade has increased from 450 million USD 20 years ago, when the two countries restored their bilateral relations, to almost 39 billion USD in 2014. The average annual income in Vietnam has increased six-fold from 560 USD in 1988 to 3,354 USD today. Furthermore, the 17,000 Vietnamese nationals studying in the US reinforce the educational cooperation between the two countries.

According to the newspaper, Vietnam exports more goods to the US than to any country in ASEAN at present. With its population of 90 million - with one third under the age of 20 - and an average GDP growth rate of 7 percent over the last 25 years, US businesses consider Vietnam one of the most promising markets in Southeast Asia.

US-based “The Huffington Post” posted an article by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken with the title “A strategic opportunity to advance US-Vietnam relations” on July 7.

Blinken wrote that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit would commence a new chapter in the two countries’ joint history.

He stressed that over the past two decades, Vietnam lifted millions of people out of poverty through market-oriented reforms and made concrete progress towards a more open society. The country has also integrated itself into the international community and is becoming an active and constructive player in the global arena.

He also mentioned the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal. Besides economic dividends, the agreement, once reached, will provide strategic opportunities for the entire region, unleashing the countries’ potential and improving citizens’ lives.

Meanwhile, Australia’s “The Sydney Morning Herald” cited Alexander Vuving, a security analyst at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, saying that the visit “underscores the converging interests of the two countries”.

On July 9, the Indian magazine “Political Events” ran an article titled “US-Vietnam relations entering a new era”, written by Vinod Anand, a Senior Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF).

According to Anand, the Vietnamese Party General Secretary’s visit, the first visit by Vietnam’s top Communist Party leader to the US, indicates “the distance both countries have travelled over the years to forge a mutually beneficially relationship despite differing political systems”.

He suggested the two sides continue to promote the development of economic cooperation and trade, with the specific objective of completing the negotiations on the TPP.-VNA