In a press briefing held on August 26 in Hanoi, Harris said she is honoured to be the first vice president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were established in 1995.
She expressed the belief that “this signals the beginning of the next chapter in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam.”
As Vietnam is currently battling a huge wave of COVID-19 infections with rising cases and deaths after successfully containing the outbreaks in 2020, Harris said the US will be with Vietnam as it battles this surge and has provided donations of vaccines and freezers to Vietnam.
She earlier in the day visited the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi to witness the delivery of parts of the 1 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine the US donated to Vietnam that she announced one day earlier during a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
In the remarks, she also noted how the two countries have strengthened economic ties during the pandemic./.
