US President Biden invited to visit Vietnam

Bien briefed his guest on the US’ success in COVID-19 control and economic recovery, and shared that he personally loves Vietnam and its people. He recalled that when he was still a Senator, he and his colleague John McCain lobbied US politicians to promote relations with Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Chinh, who is in Washington DC for the ASEAN – US special summit, described the Vietnam-US relationship as special, saying the two countries have agreed to overcome the consequences of the painful war and join hands together to develop their comprehensive partnership more and more substantively and effectively in all fields.

Vietnam wants the US to further support and cooperate with Vietnam in areas where the US has strengths and Vietnam has potential and needs such as disease prevention and control, digital transformation, supply chain diversification, climate change combating and human resources training, said Chinh.

For his part, Biden assured that the US is eager to cooperate and assist developing and underdeveloped countries in various areas, including economic and trade development, disease control, and climate change response.

He said his administration had lobbied the US Congress to allocate US$21 billion for countries worldwide for COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment, as well as for effectively responding to future epidemics. He affirmed that the US would make every effort to increase support for Vietnam and other countries in the region in this regard.

During the meeting, the Vietnamese PM told his host that climate change, epidemics and other non-traditional security challenges are global issues, and countries need a global and multilateral approach for solving these problems. He expressed his wish that the US would strengthen cooperation and support Vietnam in developing a green and circular economy, diversifying supply chains, and converting to sustainable energy.

Exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, both host and guest agreed on the principles of respecting independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions of countries, without the use of force, while peacefully settling disputes and conflicts on the basis of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, as well as ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh respectfully conveyed the invitations of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to President Joe Biden to visit Vietnam soon.

Biden expressed his thank for the invitations and said he would arrange to visit Vietnam at a suitable time.