Vietnam, US see ample room for cooperation: ambassador

Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Nguyen Quoc Dung believes that the two nations’ relationship will continue to reach new heights, serving the tangible interests of their peoples and contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, cooperation, and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Expressing his belief in an interview with Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership (July 25, 2013 - 2023), the diplomat stated that the highlight of the past decade was the bilateral ties’ robust growth across all areas, including politics, diplomacy, economics and trade, culture, education, science-technology, healthcare, defence-security, and people-to-people exchanges. He said such growth truly reflects the meaning of a comprehensive partnership.

In politics and diplomacy, the most notable achievement was the significant improvement in understanding and mutual respect. Both sides have shown respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political systems. Vietnam and the US have maintained regular high-level exchanges and contacts.

Meanwhile, economic and trade relations have been the fastest and strongest growing pillar, serving as the driving force for the overall relationship. The sides’ bilateral trade increased more than fivefold, from $25 billion in 2012 to nearly $139 billion in 2022. Vietnam has become the seventh-largest trading partner of the U.S. worldwide.

Regarding people-to-people exchanges, there are currently around 23,000 to 25,000 Vietnamese students going to study in the U.S. annually, ranking first in Southeast Asia and fifth globally in this regard. With an average of 800,000 U.S. tourist arrivals to Vietnam per year before the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S. has been consistently placed in the top five sources of visitors to the Southeast Asian nation.

Dung noted that addressing the aftermath of the war remains a high priority and has achieved many specific results. Both sides have devoted significant resources and efforts to the search for and identification of the remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers, dioxin detoxification (completed at Danang airport and ongoing at Bien Hoa airport), bomb and mine clearance, and support for people with disabilities and those affected by dioxin/Agent Orange. Vietnamese agencies have cooperated with the U.S. side to search for, identify, and repatriate the remains of 733 missing U.S. soldiers.

The ambassador said he believes that in the future, the shared priority is to further strengthen and deepen cooperation in all spheres.

First, in politics and diplomacy, it is necessary to reinforce mutual understanding, increase exchanges at all levels, especially high levels, and enhance the effectiveness of existing dialogue mechanisms.

Second, the sides should develop stable, sustainable economic, trade, investment, and scientific and technological relations, while minimising trade defence actions. Additionally, they need to focus on cooperation in emerging and high-tech areas, such as the digital economy, green economy, circular economy, and maintaining the sustainability of supply chains.

Third, more attention should be paid to cultural and artistic exchanges as well as education and training in line with Vietnam's needs for high-quality human resources. Attracting more U.S. tourists to Vietnam and supporting Vietnamese and Vietnamese-origin people in the U.S. are also important.

Fourth, the countries need to accelerate cooperation in addressing the war consequences because as time goes on, the conditions for remediation become more challenging.

Fifth, both sides should enhance their effective collaboration at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the ASEAN-U.S. comprehensive strategic partnership and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). They should also team up in resolving global issues, particularly emerging ones like the environment, climate change response, and clean energy transition.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday delivered a recorded video statement highlighting the strong and growing relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam on the 10th anniversary of the two countries' Comprehensive Partnership (July 25, 2013-2023).

In his remarks, he underlined the breadth of cooperation between the two countries, spanning economic, environmental, and security issues.

"We have built a relationship that's dynamic, consequential, and growing stronger every day," Blinken said. "Our countries are working together on an incredibly broad range of shared interests to the benefit of our peoples and people across the region and world."

Blinken also highlighted the partnerships between the two countries on economic issues, including promoting inclusive economic opportunity, resilient supply chains, and infrastructure.

He noted that the U.S. is helping Vietnam reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 while powering sustainable development and strengthening public health systems.

Blinken also emphasized the importance of people-to-people ties, which he called the "foundation of our relationship", commenting that the U.S. and Vietnam are working to enable more students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and tourists to collaborate and travel between the two countries.

Blinken also touched on the issue of addressing the legacies of the Vietnam War, stating that the U.S. remains committed to clearing unexploded ordnance, eliminating dioxin hot spots, accounting for the missing, and other joint efforts.

"For the United States, that's a matter of trust and a matter of duty," he said.

The U.S. diplomat expressed optimism about the future of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship in his address.

Recalling the breaking ground of a new, state-of-the-art U.S. embassy in Hanoi, which he attended during his visit earlier this year, he expressed gratitude to all those working to make the partnership between the two countries a reality.

"I can't wait to see where the next 10 years takes us together," Blinken said.