Biden’s visit to Vietnam creates new cooperation opportunities

Ambassador Cuong granted an exclusive interview to VOV.VN, shedding light on the development of the Vietnam – US relations over the past decades and new prospects of cooperation between the two countries moving forward. Followingis the gist of the interview.

From former foes to present-day partners

VOV: Vietnam and the US are celebrating 10 years of their comprehensive partnership this year. So could you please further elaborate on the two sides’ efforts in reaching this agreement?

Amb. Cuong: Actually at that time both sides were making thorough preparations for a US visit by President Truong Tan Sang during which they agreed to lift bilateral relations to the Comprehensive Partnership. I remember that it was the US side that put forward the proposal for the upgrade.

Both Vietnam and the US put in a great deal of effort in reaching the agreement, because they both had experienced war, and the consequences of war have still been lingering on till today. It’s understandable that the two countries decided to break with the past and look to the future.

I remember talking to President Barack Obama’s advisor that “President Truong Tan Sang once fought in battle and he was even injured. But today, he came here with the goodwill to close the past to improve the relations between Vietnam and the US. It was truly a historic event”.

Thereby, the US side was more aware of the determination and vision of the Vietnamese leadership that the two countries should overcome differences and barriers to reach consensus. By establishing the Comprehensive Partnership, relations between the two countries entered a new stage of development.

VOV: What does the establishment of the comprehensive partnership mean in the relations between the two countries?

Amb. Cuong: Well, the event was of paramount importance, opening a new stage of development in bilateral relations. It was a very long step forward that both Vietnam and the US that were once former foes normalized diplomatic relations in 1995 and then became comprehensive partners in 2013. For this reason, the US side viewed the Vietnam-US relationship as a role model in international relations.

More broadly, the establishment of the comprehensive partnership with the US results from effective implementation of Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization of foreign relations. Thereby, Vietnam had completed the establishment of strategic partnerships and comprehensive partnerships with all major powers in the world. This also contributes to enhancing Vietnam’s prestige and position in the international arena.

Fruitful relationship both qualitatively and quantitatively

VOV: Has the development of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries lived up to their expectations over the past decade, ambassador?

Amb. Cuong: I think the two sides have met or even gone beyond their expectations. Bilateral relations have developed strongly and effectively both in quantity and quality over the years. The following figures speak for themselves.

Two-way trade turnover rose more than fivefold, from just US$25 billion in 2012 to US$139 billion in 2022, making Vietnam the seventh largest trading partner of the US.

Currently, the US is Vietnam’s largest export market for goods. The past two years saw Vietnam rake in more than US$100 billion each from exports to the US, helping to balance its international trade with other countries.

When the two countries established their Comprehensive Partnership, they identified nine priority areas of cooperation, from politics, diplomacy, security, and defense to economy, trade, investment, environment, health care and people-to-people exchanges, with all these areas yielding encouraging results.

I am also impressed with the number of Vietnamese students in the US, amounting to nearly 30,000. They will create an important resource for Vietnam’s future development, and at the same time, they serve as messengers to contribute to Vietnam - US relations in the coming time.

It’s worth remembering that several months after President Ho Chi Minh read the Independence Declaration, proclaiming the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945, he sent a letter to the US Secretary of State, wishing to send 50 young intellectuals and students to study in the US. The number now is very huge and it is a huge step forward.

More importantly, it has been the qualitative change in bilateral relations over the past decade. In my opinion, bilateral relations have been divided into two phases since their normalization in 1995, with the first from 1995 to 2013 when the two counties began to build trust, and the second from 2013 till today when the two sides built up their trust on the basis of respecting each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as political institutions.

Mutual respect

VOV: In 2015, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid an official visit to the US. Was it a historic event in the relations between the two countries?

Amb. Cuong: Yes, it’s true. For the first time, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam paid an official visit to the US at the invitation of the US President. The US side warmly welcomed the Vietnamese leader and his encourage. US President Obama held talks, while Vice President Joe Biden met with the Vietnamese leader, who also had a series of meetings with leaders of US Congress, politicians and scholars.

The US invitation and warm reception of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam showed that the US side fulfilled its commitment to respecting Vietnam’s political system, as well as the Communist Party of Vietnam’s comprehensive leadership role in the country’s political system.

During that visit, the two sides also issued a joint vision statement on their relations. If we look back, we all see that the development of bilateral relations has moved in the right direction.

VOV: US President Joe Biden is scheduled to pay a State visit to Vietnam on September 10-11 at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. What do you think of this visit, ambassador?

Amb. Cuong: As far as we know that Biden is not the first US President to visit Vietnam, because several US Presidents have travelled to Vietnam since the normalization of bilateral relations in 1995. But this is the first time a US President has visited Vietnam at the invitation of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. This is unprecedented, and also speaks to the special nature of the visit.

It is expected that through this trip, the relations between Vietnam and the US will be further deepened and raised to new heights, as what the leaders of the two sides have agreed.

VOV: The two sides adopted the Joint Vision Statement (2015), respecting the United Nations Charter, international law and political institutions, as well as each other’s national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. How has this policy bene implemented in reality, ambassador?

Amb. Cuong: I think that up to now the two countries have stuck to the principles that they have agreed upon. For example, the US President invited the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to pay an official visit to the US, or US President Biden will make a State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of the top Vietnamese Party leader. This shows that the two sides respect each other’s political institutions, creating a premise for them to strengthen political trust and develop their relationship.

In the 2013 Joint Statement, the two sides for the first time identified nine priority areas of cooperation, from politics, diplomacy, security and defense, to economy, science-technology, education-training. I think the cooperative relations have been on the right track.

VOV: What new fields do Vietnam and the US have the potential for closer cooperation in the near future?

Amb. Cuong: The world is evolving rapidly with both new challenges and opportunities, requiring closer cooperation between countries, including Vietnam and the United States.

The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (2021) has set large, important goals to turn Vietnam into an upper middle income economy by 20230 and a high-income, socialist-oriented developed economy by 2045. Achieving these goals requires Vietnam to mobilize and utilize all external resources.

During her visit to Vietnam in July 2023, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen affirmed that currently the US is giving high priority to diversifying the supply chain and preventing risks of the rupture of the supply chain. Strengthening relations between the two sides would create new opportunities for them to cooperate more in various fields.

The US expects Vietnam to engage more in this process, and it is ready to support and improve Vietnam’s capacity. Some of new cooperation fields between the two counties at present and in future include climate change response, digital transformation, green transformation, renewable energy, high technology, as well as diversifying the global supply chain.

VOV: Thank you the ambassador for the interview.