Vietnam’s Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong, met with officials, parliamentarians, local dignitaries, lecturers and students in the US State of Utah as part of his visit from March 30 to April 1.

At Brigham Young University (BYU), one of the largest private universities in the US , with over 30,000 students, Ambassador Cuong delivered a lecture at the David M. Kennedy Centre for International Studies.

With the theme “Vietnam-the next stage of reforms”, Cuong’s lecture drew more than 100 students, professors and US friends, to hear about reforms in Vietnam, the country’s Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the period 2011-2020 as well as prospects for further cooperation between the two countries in the future.

On the occasion, the Vietnamese Ambassador also met with over 50 Vietnamese students currently studying at BYU and handed over a certificate recognising the Vietnamese students association in the university.

During his stay in Utah , Cuong held talks with the state’s Governor, Gary Herbert, Senator Orrin Hatch and representatives of over 50 leading businesses.

Governor Herbert informed his guest that the Utah Governor’s Office has recently organised a fact-finding trip for a delegation of business people to study investment opportunities in Vietnam . He added that the businesses are confident they could cooperate with Vietnam in the future.

A number of Vietnamese businesses in Utah also said they hope to step up investment in their homeland , including several major projects and also link up businesses from Utah and Vietnam together.

Over the past five years, two way trade between Vietnam and Utah has increased by more than 200 percent, according to the Utah Governor’s Office.

While meeting with leaders of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City , the senior diplomat clarified Vietnam ’s religious policy.

Covering an area of nearly 220,000 sq.km, Utah , which is located in the west of the US , has a population of almost 3 million people.

The state is the home of the Mormon faith across the world.-VNA