President Biden begins two-day State visit to Viet Nam

This is the first time a President of the U.S. pays a State-level visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc told reporters.

The visit takes place on the occasion of the 10^th founding anniversary of the comprehensive partnership between Viet Nam and the U.S.

It is also the first time both President and Vice President of the U.S. have visited Viet Nam in a single term and Biden's visit is a "special event" for both nations, Ha emphasized.

The visit shows that both countries attach importance to each other in their foreign policies and in their policies towards Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific in particular.

For the U.S. side, the visit reflects its appreciation for Viet Nam's political regime, the role of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese leaders.

This is also a significant milestone in the joint efforts of the two countries to realize the wish of President Ho Chi Minh as expressed in his February 1946 letter to U.S. President Harry Truman: Viet Nam has full cooperation with the U.S., said Ha.

Remarkable and impressive trade growth

Nearly 30 years since the normalization of bilateral relations, the two-way trade has seen remarkable and impressive growth, increasing from US$450 million in 1995 to US$123 billion in 2022.

Viet Nam has quickly emerged to become the the seven largest trading partner of the U.S. globally and its biggest trading partner in ASEAN while the U.S.  became the largest importer of Vietnamese goods with a value of US$100 billion since 2022.

On investment, the U.S. has been one of the leading investors in Viet Nam, with over US$11 billion by 2022, not including investments through U.S. company branches from third countries.

Several Vietnamese companies have also invested billions of dollars in the U.S., contributing to creating thousands of jobs for American workers.

The Deputy Foreign Minister said economic, trade and investment cooperation will still remain a high priority, a cornerstone and a driving force of bilateral ties.

Both countries will focus cooperation on supply chains, infrastructure development, high-quality human resource training, energy transition, digital economy, green economy, and manufacturing development.

Attention will also be paid to digital technology, artifical intelligence, biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Another important area is cooperation in overcoming war consequences, along with UN peacekeeping activities, military medical training, research and rescue, maritime and aviation capacity development.

At global and regional forum, the two countries will strengthen coordination in ASEAN, APEC, and the UN, and especially work closely together to deal with global challenges such as climate change, energy, food, water and health security./.