Ambassador Ted Osius and Chairman of Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Le Duc Vinh at the meeting on May 24
During the two-day visit, Ambassador Osius met with Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Chairman Le Duc Vinh, visited PP17 personnel from the US, Vietnam, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia at Cam Ranh International Port, and toured community and medical facilities working with PP17.
In his meeting with Chairman of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Le Duc Vinh, Ambassador Osius thanked the province for its support and warm welcome for PP17, discussed opportunities for further economic and educational collaboration, addressed issues of civil society, and congratulated the province on its rise in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2016 ranking.
During a separate signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding between Khanh Hoa province and Microsoft Vietnam to develop Nha Trang as a smart city, Ambassador Osius highlighted that the application of smart city technology will help improve Nha Trang’s business environment, provide a boost to the tourism industry, improve public safety, and enhance urban planning.
Ambassador Ted Osius talking to the students at Hoa Mi Kindergarten in Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province where fifteen US Navy and Marine Corps engineers were working to renovate the classrooms
While visiting Hoa Mi Kindergarten, Ambassador Osius and US Navy’s Rear Admiral Donald Gabrielson met with fifteen US Navy and Marine Corps engineers working over nine days to replace roofs on two buildings in addition to repairing or replacing ceiling fans and light fixtures in all the classrooms and repainting the exterior buildings. Ambassador Osius also visited the Khanh Hoa Social Protection Center where PP17 installed six new solar-powered water heaters to improve the quality of life at the facility.
“Pacific Partnership 17 shows the depth of our partnerships, particularly in capacity to coordinate regional humanitarian assistance and disaster response. Personnel from our countries are working together to train medical professionals and enhance medical care. Also, we’re improving the facilities at area schools, highlighting our shared focus on education as a driver for social and economic development,” Ambassador Osius noted during the trip.
Ambassador Ted Osius posing for a photo with Vietnamese personnel who had completed a Tactical Combat Casualty Care course
In addition to community relations sites, the US Ambassador to Vietnam presented certificates to Vietnamese personnel completing a Tactical Combat Casualty Care course which will help Vietnam as it participates in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.
At the VINASARCOM dive medicine exchange, he met with US and Vietnamese subject-matter experts sharing best practices on underwater medicine. He also met with Vietnamese doctors sharing traditional medicine techniques with US Navy doctors visiting the Khanh Hoa Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital.
This is the eighth time in eleven years that PP17 has taken place in Vietnam. This year's events in Khanh Hoa include personnel from the US, United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. Crew from the Vietnam People’s Navy hospital ship Khanh Hoa-01 and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s destroyers J.S. Izumo and J.S. Sazanami also joined mission personnel for the Khanh Hoa mission stop.
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