Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s three-day official visit to the United States, which begins on May 29, is seen as an opportunity to reaffirm that Vietnam is an important partner of America in the Asia-Pacific region.
Anthony Nelson, director of Albright Stonebridge Consulting Group, told the Vietnam News Agency in Washington that the first U.S. visit by Nguyen Xuan Phuc in his capacity as prime minister is also the first visit of an ASEAN leader since the new Donald Trump administration.
The visit is important as this is a chance for PM Phuc to emphasize Vietnam’s role as a key economic and security partner of the U.S. in the region, he said.
Although the U.S. has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, the two countries should think of a bilateral free trade agreement, he noted.
PM Phuc’s visit is an indication of Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization of foreign relations, and proactive and active integration into the world, says a Vietnam News Agency report.
The two former foes established diplomatic ties on July 12, 1995. Since then the U.S. has become one of the leading trade partners of Vietnam. Bilateral trade has shot up by about 20% a year, reaching US$45 billion in 2015, a 20-fold increase against 20 years ago.
With 815 projects worth US$10.07 billion, the U.S. ranks eighth among 112 countries and territories directly investing in Vietnam.
Bilateral cooperation in security, defense, science, information technology, bio-technology, oceanography and space technology has also improved significantly.
Regarding education, Vietnam currently has more than 31,000 students in the U.S., becoming the sixth biggest source of foreign students in America.
May 29, 2017
Source: Saigon Times
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
