Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam-USComprehensive Partnership has seen remarkable progress over the past few yearswith important achievements obtained in all areas, but huge potential remainsunleashed for the cooperation between the two countries, according toVietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc.
Ngoc wrote this in a recent article entitled“Maintaining the Growth Momentum of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership”,ahead of the 30th Diplomatic Conference to be held in Hanoi from August 12-17.
Vietnam-US relations have developedsignificantly since the two countries set up diplomatic ties in 1995, Ngocsaid. From enemies at war, the two nations improved their relations to becomecomprehensive partners in 2013, opening the way for expanded cooperation inmultiple fields – from politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, and investment,to security and defence, culture, education, science and technology, to the settlementof war aftermaths, and people-to-people exchange.
Since 2015, the two sides have accelerated the exchangeof high-level visits, including those to the US by General Secretary of theCommunist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in 2015 andPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2017, as well as visits to Vietnam byPresident Barrack Obama in 2016 and President Donald Trump last year. Thevisits have deepened the bilateral Comprehensive Partnership and fostered the developmentof ties on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, and with respect for eachother’s independence and political regime, the diplomat said.
He moved on to mention economics, trade, andinvestment as a priority in and key driver of Vietnam-US ties. Two-way trade betweenthe countries soared from 500 million USD in 1995 to 50 billion USD in 2017.Last year, earnings from the US market made up more than 20 percent of Vietnam’stotal export revenue. Vietnam is the US’ biggest export market in SoutheastAsia, meanwhile the US remains in the top 10 investors in Vietnam.
Concrete steps have also been achieved insecurity and defence, particularly in the areas of search and rescue,humanitarian relief, natural disaster mitigation, peacekeeping, personneltraining, and maritime, the ambassador noted. The US delivered a Hamilton-classcutter (one of the largest US Coast Guard vessels) last year and six patrolboats earlier this year to the Vietnamese Coast Guard. More recently, the USaircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson made a goodwill visit to the central city ofDa Nang, demonstrating the two sides’ efforts to maintain peace, stability, andcooperation in the region, as well as their respect for international law.
Coordination in addressing the aftermaths of waris of special concern to the two sides, contributing to trust-building in theirComprehensive Partnership. Vietnam has worked effectively with the US in searchingfor missing US soldiers in the country while the US has also taken steps toassist in the clearance of unexploded ordinances (UXOs) and Agent Orange/dioxindetoxification. In 2017, the US completed a massive dioxin cleanup campaign atVietnam’s Da Nang International Airport and is committed to another cleanup atBien Hoa Airport, searching for missing Vietnamese soldiers and helping warvictims.
Vietnam and the US have also expandedcooperation in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, andpeople-to-people exchange. It was estimated that about 30,000 Vietnamese are currentlypursuing degrees in universities and colleges in the US. Last year, the twonations worked together to open the Fulbright University in Ho Chi Minh City,providing young Vietnamese people with access to high-quality education andmodern knowledge.
Ngoc stressed that the two sides have not onlyfocused on their bilateral ties but also worked closely at multilateral forums– such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, ASEAN, and ASEANRegional Forum (ARF) – towards regional peace, cooperation, and development.They both back the need to protect freedom and security of navigation andmaritime with respect for international regulations, in particular the 1982 UNConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as the resolution ofdisputes through diplomatic and legal processes without using or threatening touse force that may accelerate tension in the region.
According to the ambassador, the two sides haveresumed talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) todiscuss outstanding trade and investment issues and seek new opportunities forcooperation in the field.
The ambassador affirmed that Vietnam would continueto improve the local business climate for American investors, while alsofacilitating the import of US goods to the country. At the same time, Vietnamwants the US to remove trade barriers for Vietnamese products and provide moresupport to Vietnamese investors in the US.
He said the tasks for the diplomatic service ingeneral and the Vietnamese Embassy in the US in particular are to further boostthe bilateral comprehensive partnership, maintain high-level contacts andvisits, increase bilateral connections through different channels and timelyand effectively address outstanding as well as emerging problems. -VNA
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