The relations between Vietnam and the US in the last year saw apositive development, creating an impetus for the two sides to maketheir comprehensive partnership deeper in 2015 and following years, saidVietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh.
Talking toa Washington-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent on January 3, thediplomat highlighted the recent fruitful achievements in the bilateralties, saying that the comprehensive partnership, set up duringPresident Truong Tan Sang’s visit to the US in July 2013, is animportant framework for stepping up the two countries’ relations.
Hestressed that the results contributed significantly to pushing theall-around ties, especially in politics-diplomacy with a series of all-level visits during 2014.
The two sides implemented 11dialogue mechanisms in such areas as politics, security, defence,economy, development, democracy, human rights and labour, he added.
According to the ambassador, economic cooperation continued to be abright spot in the bilateral relations. The US remains one ofVietnam’s leading economic partner and export markets with two-waytrade estimated to hit 35-36 billion USD last year. It is now the sevenlargest foreign investor in Vietnam, pouring nearly 10.7 billion USDinto 700 projects. The two countries are also proactively joiningnegotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
Remarkableprogress was also seen in defence and security cooperation, evidencedby the US’s partial lifting of arms embargo against Vietnam. Thetwo sides exchanged visits by defence officials and expandedcollaboration between their coast guards. They are deploying an 18million USD aid package funded by the US to help improve Vietnam’smaritime capacity.
Sci-tech cooperation made a breakthroughas the civil nuclear cooperation Agreement 123 officially took effectfrom September 10, 2014, opening a great opportunity for both to forgelinks in the field.
The US side also committed to workingclosely with Vietnam in dealing with the consequences of war, suchas detoxification of dioxin-affected areas and medical assistance forpeople with disabilities by post-war effects.
Educationcooperation and people-to-people exchanges were further expanded.Vietnam now leads ASEAN countries in the number of students learning inthe US, with 16,000.
Regarding the tourism aspect, thenumber of American visitors to Vietnam has continuously increased inrecent years, reaching around 443,000 in 2014.
Along withbilateral ties, the two countries effectively coordinated with eachother at international and regional multilateral forums, with thefirst-ever organisation of a US-ASEAN defence ministers’ meeting.
However,Vinh noted that the relationship still faces many difficulties relatedto trade barriers or differences in democracy and human rights issues.
Thediplomat voiced that the year 2015 will be an important year for theVietnam-US relations, offering a good chance for the two sides tofurther spur their relations for the sake of the two peoples, as well asfor peace and stability in the region and the world at large.
The primary and most important task for the year is how to furtherdeepen the comprehensive partnership in all priority cooperation fields,especially economy, science-technology and education, so as to makebreakthroughs in the areas, he stressed.
2015 will also mark the20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations, he said,adding that the two sides should take the occasion to enhance mutualunderstanding among their people, thus promoting their bilateral ties.
Regarding the role of the Vietnamese community in the US, Vinhsaid about two million Vietnamese people – nearly half of overseasVietnamese are living in the US and they always make positivecontributions to the homeland’s development, as well as serve as abridge linking the friendship and cooperation between the two peoples.-VNA
Talking toa Washington-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent on January 3, thediplomat highlighted the recent fruitful achievements in the bilateralties, saying that the comprehensive partnership, set up duringPresident Truong Tan Sang’s visit to the US in July 2013, is animportant framework for stepping up the two countries’ relations.
Hestressed that the results contributed significantly to pushing theall-around ties, especially in politics-diplomacy with a series of all-level visits during 2014.
The two sides implemented 11dialogue mechanisms in such areas as politics, security, defence,economy, development, democracy, human rights and labour, he added.
According to the ambassador, economic cooperation continued to be abright spot in the bilateral relations. The US remains one ofVietnam’s leading economic partner and export markets with two-waytrade estimated to hit 35-36 billion USD last year. It is now the sevenlargest foreign investor in Vietnam, pouring nearly 10.7 billion USDinto 700 projects. The two countries are also proactively joiningnegotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
Remarkableprogress was also seen in defence and security cooperation, evidencedby the US’s partial lifting of arms embargo against Vietnam. Thetwo sides exchanged visits by defence officials and expandedcollaboration between their coast guards. They are deploying an 18million USD aid package funded by the US to help improve Vietnam’smaritime capacity.
Sci-tech cooperation made a breakthroughas the civil nuclear cooperation Agreement 123 officially took effectfrom September 10, 2014, opening a great opportunity for both to forgelinks in the field.
The US side also committed to workingclosely with Vietnam in dealing with the consequences of war, suchas detoxification of dioxin-affected areas and medical assistance forpeople with disabilities by post-war effects.
Educationcooperation and people-to-people exchanges were further expanded.Vietnam now leads ASEAN countries in the number of students learning inthe US, with 16,000.
Regarding the tourism aspect, thenumber of American visitors to Vietnam has continuously increased inrecent years, reaching around 443,000 in 2014.
Along withbilateral ties, the two countries effectively coordinated with eachother at international and regional multilateral forums, with thefirst-ever organisation of a US-ASEAN defence ministers’ meeting.
However,Vinh noted that the relationship still faces many difficulties relatedto trade barriers or differences in democracy and human rights issues.
Thediplomat voiced that the year 2015 will be an important year for theVietnam-US relations, offering a good chance for the two sides tofurther spur their relations for the sake of the two peoples, as well asfor peace and stability in the region and the world at large.
The primary and most important task for the year is how to furtherdeepen the comprehensive partnership in all priority cooperation fields,especially economy, science-technology and education, so as to makebreakthroughs in the areas, he stressed.
2015 will also mark the20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations, he said,adding that the two sides should take the occasion to enhance mutualunderstanding among their people, thus promoting their bilateral ties.
Regarding the role of the Vietnamese community in the US, Vinhsaid about two million Vietnamese people – nearly half of overseasVietnamese are living in the US and they always make positivecontributions to the homeland’s development, as well as serve as abridge linking the friendship and cooperation between the two peoples.-VNA
