General Secretary's official visit to the United States: Historic visit

At the invitation of the US Government, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official visit to the United States of America from July 6 to 10.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong received former US President Bill Clinton during his visit and work in Vietnam. (Photo: Tri Dung/VNA)

The visit is of historic significance, taking place at an important time for Vietnam-US relations. This is the first time the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam has officially visited the United States, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-US diplomatic relations and the 40th anniversary of the end of the war, the complete liberation of the South, and the reunification of the country.

July - This is not only an occasion for more than 320 million Americans to celebrate the Declaration of Independence Day (July 4), but also marks many important milestones in Vietnam-US relations.

On July 12, 1995, the two countries normalized relations and officially established diplomatic relations. Exactly 5 years later, on July 13, 2000, the two countries signed the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

And in July 2013, during President Truong Tan Sang's official visit to the United States, the two sides established a framework for a Comprehensive Partnership. During these July days, former US President Bill Clinton, who officially announced the normalization of relations with Vietnam 20 years ago, was present in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to attend commemorative activities, which is the presence of trust and goodwill to continue moving towards a more open future in the Vietnam-US cooperative relationship.

Looking back over the past 20 years, Vietnam-US relations have made rapid and positive progress in many areas. Despite the geographical distance and differences, despite the painful past, with the spirit of “putting the past behind and looking to the future,” Vietnam and the United States can still build a comprehensive partnership together, on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. The exchange of high-level visits and regular contacts at multilateral forums have significantly contributed to enhancing understanding and building trust between the two sides.

Through visits, contacts and dialogues, both sides affirmed their desire to build “a positive, friendly, constructive partnership, multi-faceted cooperation, mutual respect and mutual benefit.” The two countries have also signed many documents and agreements, creating a legal framework for the development of economic, trade and investment cooperation.

Since the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect in 2001, Vietnam-US trade relations have increased rapidly and have become a real focus in the relationship between the two countries. Two-way trade turnover has grown continuously at over 20% in the past 3 years, reaching 36 billion USD in 2014, of which Vietnam exported over 30 billion USD.

Since 2015, the United States has become Vietnam's largest export market. Currently, the total direct investment capital of the United States reaches nearly 11 billion USD, ranking seventh among countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

In the field of education, Vietnam has nearly 17,000 students studying in the United States, ranking first among Southeast Asian countries and eighth among countries with the most students studying in the United States. The project to establish a US model university in Vietnam (Fulbright University) is being actively implemented. The United States continues to provide scholarships for Vietnamese graduate students through scholarship programs such as Fulbright and the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF).

The United States attaches importance to health cooperation with Vietnam, choosing Vietnam as a priority country in the HIV/AIDS Emergency Response Program. The two sides are implementing the Climate Change Response Support Project in Forests and Deltas for the 2013-2017 period, with an initial total commitment of 17 million USD, to help Vietnam minimize the impact of and adapt to climate change.

Recently, the United States has significantly increased its efforts and funding to address the consequences of the war in Vietnam, notably the Da Nang airport decontamination project (to be completed in 2016). In addition to land mine clearance projects, since 2013, the United States has begun training Vietnamese divers in underwater mine clearance.

Bilateral relations in the field of national security and defense have been gradually strengthened. Since 2010, the two sides have conducted defense policy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level.

In 2011, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on promoting bilateral defense cooperation. Vietnam continued to participate in English language training programs, military medical cooperation, and continued to welcome US naval ships to visit Vietnamese ports annually, allowing the US to carry out a number of humanitarian assistance programs in localities.

The two sides continued to cooperate in the field of search and rescue. In 2014, the United States announced the partial lifting of the embargo on lethal weapons against Vietnam. In June 2015, the two countries' defense ministers signed a Joint Vision Statement on bilateral defense relations.

The two sides coordinate relatively closely at multilateral forums such as APEC, ARF, ADMM+, EAS and upgrade the US-ASEAN relationship to a Strategic Partnership...

Regarding the East Sea issue, the United States supports the policy of resolving disputes by peaceful means, not using or threatening to use force, and respecting international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

During General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's official visit to the United States, the top leaders of the two countries will discuss orientations for developing bilateral relations in a positive and stable direction in the next period; promote cooperation in all aspects and further deepen the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership, focusing on increasing investment attraction, expanding and facilitating trade; and at the same time, step up cooperation in education, training, science and technology, national defense and security, overcoming the consequences of war and other fields.

The two sides will also exchange and share views on a number of international and regional issues of mutual concern.

On this occasion, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to discuss promoting Vietnam-UN relations, enhancing cooperation within the UN framework, affirming Vietnam's role and positive contributions as a responsible member of the international community; and seeking the UN's support and assistance for Vietnam's development.

With that meaning, the official visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the United States aims to continue implementing the foreign policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, friendship, cooperation, multilateralization, diversification, bringing partnerships into practical and effective depth, for the benefit of each country and people, while contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world./.

According to Vietnam+