Hanoi (VNA) – A number of newswires and prestigiousorganisations have published articles commenting on the US visit by Vietnam’s PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from May 29-31.
An article published on Bloomberg.com on May 29 said PM Phucis to convince President Donald Trump to advance trade ties that blossomedunder the Obama administration.
“TheTrump administration is very interested in advancing the relationship withVietnam because it sees the strategic role Vietnam places in Asia,” he said.
Inrecent years, Vietnam and the US have also found common ground on issuesregarding regional security.
Thesame day, the Asia Sentinel ran an article by former US diplomat David Brown,saying that during the Obama years, Washington and Hanoi forged a strategicentente – unofficial, of course, but increasingly real, and Barack Obama’svisit to Vietnam last May was therefore a triumph.
Brownwrote that the US and Vietnam might agree to explore a bilateral trade pactthat would entail many Trans-Pacific Partnership-like trade reforms. To theextent 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 whenhe visits Washington this week.
Commentingon the visit, Dr. Jonathan D. London, aleading scholar of contemporary Vietnam and the global economy-politics at the Netherlands’sLeiden University underscored the great importance of the visit, saying that agreat deal has changed in Vietnam and in its relations with the US,particularly in the two decades since the governments of the two countriesnormalised ties, and especially within the last several years. The twocountries have come to view each other as indispensable strategic partners,especially in trade and security matters. Therefore, the visit not onlyportends the development of US-Vietnam bilateral relations and the futureprospects of Vietnam’s development, but the White House’s intentions withrespect to East Asia.
Meanwhile,the Washington Times daily on May 29 ran an article entitled “Vietnam’s PrimeMinister White House visit offers US opportunity to define Asia policy”.
Reviewingbilateral ties over the past two decades, it said trade between the two nationshas nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops 52 billion USD. The USexports to Vietnam increased by 43.2 percent in 2016, the largest increaseamong America’s top 30 trade partners and the only one with double-digitgrowth.
Inconclusion, the article suggested the US take steps required to recogniseVietnam’s market economy status, ensure maritime security and safety withincreased joint naval exercises, increase educational linkages between Americanuniversities and Vietnamese higher education institutions.
Itrecommended cooperating in the field of science research on regional and globalclimate change issues, especially in the Lower Mekong Delta while addressingthe impact of Agent Orange and the removal of unexploded ordnance in Vietnam.-VNA