Vietnam - US ties move forward

State President Truong Tan Sang’s upcoming official visit to the US from July 24-26 will make a move forward in Vietnam’s ties with the US, which have seen strong developments across many fields since the two countries normalised their relations in 1995.

The visit, made at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, will be a good chance for the leaders to outline major orientations for bilateral ties to grow further.

Politically, senior leaders exchanged five high-ranking visits including the Vietnam visits by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and President George Bush in 2006, and the US visits by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in 2005, President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2007 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2008.

Following these visits, the two countries have agreed to pursue a friendly, constructive, and multifaceted cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit.

Economically, the two countries signed a series of agreements, notably the Bilateral Trade Agreement, which took effect in 2001. Two-way trade has since increased yearly and the US has been Vietnam's largest importer since 2005.

In 2012, bilateral trade fetched up 24.5 billion USD, rising by 14 percent over 2011. In the first five months of 2013, the figure hit 11 billion USD, a year on year increase of 16 percent.

By May 2013, the US’s foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam reached 10.5 billion USD in 658 projects, ranking the country seventh among foreign investors in Vietnam.

Bilateral security and defence ties have been further, assisted by the deputy ministerial level defence policy dialogue, which started in 2010, and a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation signed in 2011.

Vietnam continues to actively become involved in programmes on English language training and military medicine cooperation, welcome US naval ships, and allow the US Pacific Command to carry out humanitarian programs in Vietnamese localities. Meanwhile, research and rescue cooperation have also been enhanced.

Vietnam and the US established the Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and are advancing an ‘exemplary partnership’ in researching climate change and ways to deal with climate change and sea level rise consequences.

On education, around 16,000 Vietnamese students and postgraduates are studying in the US. Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training and the US Department of Education signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a special educational group to promote tertiary education cooperation.

The signing of a cooperation agreement on healthcare and science has provided a legal foundation for the two countries’ relevant agencies to establish and expand their linkages.

Regarding the Agent Orange/dioxin issue, the US Government has given out 79.5 million USD for detoxification, 11 million USD in medical assistance for people with disabilities, including AO/dioxin victims, and 54 million USD for purifying dioxin-contaminated Da Nang airport, in Vietnam, during 2007-2013.

Since 1999, the US Department of State has funded equipment to locate and defuse unexploded bombs, mines and ordnance left over from the war in the country worth around 12 million USD.

President Sang's upcoming visit comes at a time when the two countries’ cooperation in economics, trade, investment, science and technology and education is growing steadily.

It will demonstrate Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, as well as multilateralisation and diversification of international relations and active international integration. It also reflects the country’s desires to continue bolstering external ties to maintain peace and stability to serve the national construction and defence.