US President Biden to visit Vietnam on September 10

U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Vietnam from September 10-11 at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Southeast Asian country's top leader.

"We believe that the visits of the two countries' senior leaders will further deepen the Vietnam-U.S. relations, bringing bilateral ties to long-term, substantive and stable developments in all fields, while contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world," Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said in a statement Tuesday.

This will be President Biden's first visit to Vietnam since he took office in early 2021.

Previously, the White House had stated that Biden will travel to Hanoi on September 10.

In Hanoi, the president will have meetings with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders to discuss ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a release.

"They will explore opportunities to promote the growth of a technology-focused and innovation-driven Vietnamese economy, expand our people-to-people ties through education exchanges and workforce development programs, combat climate change, and increase peace, prosperity, and stability in the region," she added.

Vietnam and the U.S. elevated their ties to a comprehensive level in 2013 after the two normalized relations in 1995. In 2022, the U.S. became Vietnam’s first-ever export destination with a revenue exceeding $100 billion.

Vietnam has various levels of diplomatic relations with other nations, including normal, comprehensive, strategic, and comprehensive strategic partnerships, in elevating order. Its four comprehensive strategic partners are China, Russia, India, and South Korea. Besides, Vietnam holds special relationships with Laos, Cambodia, and Cuba.

In the first seven months of this year, the U.S. was Vietnam’s second-biggest trade partner with a turnover of $60.5 billion. Vietnam exported goods worth $52.4 billion and spent $8.1 billion on imports, Vietnam's General Statistics Office reported.

China was the biggest trade partner with two-way trade of $90.2 billion in the seven-month period, as Vietnam recorded an export revenue of $31.6 billion and an import expenditure of $58.6 billion.

The U.S and Vietnam have forged a robust, dynamic and consequential relationship, and the U.S "respects Vietnam’s right to shape its future under its own political system," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"The U.S. is helping Vietnam double down on key reforms it’s embraced – including on labor, intellectual property, and fair trade – which have made it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world," Blinken told a press meeting in Hanoi in July following meetings with Vietnam's top leaders as part of his three-day official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

In a meeting with Blinken then, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said he highly appreciated the strong and comprehensive development of their bilateral relations on the basis of respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions.

"The positive results are the basis for continuing to raise the bilateral relationship to a new height for the benefit of the two peoples, and for peace, stability and development in the region and the world," Trong noted.

The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) president and CEO Ted Osius, former U.S. ambassador to Hanoi, in a press briefing in March said: "American firms are strong in areas like digital and creative economy development, and green energy, meaning more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation."

Gregory Testerman, chairman of AmCham Vietnam in HCMC, told The Investor in an interview in April that the vibrant trade relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam is "one of the world’s most important".