White House’s statement on US Vice President's visit to Vietnam

This is the first time a US Vice President has visited the Southeast Asian country.

According to a statement of the White House, during her stay, Harris will will engage Vietnamese leaders on issues of mutual interest, including regional security, the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and joint efforts to promote a rules-based international order.

The Vice President will also affirm and celebrate the strong cultural and people-to-people ties between the US and Vietnam.
The visit is hoped to contribute to strengthening ties and expanding economic cooperation between the US and important partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

Harris is scheduled to have meetings with Vietnamese leaders, including a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the COVID-19 pandemic, regional security and economic cooperation.

She also planned to attend the inauguration of an office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Hanoi, which will work to deal with issues related to infectious diseases in Southeast Asia.

The US is currently the largest COVID-19 vaccine donor for Vietnam with 5 million doses of Moderna vaccine.

As of August 3, 2021, Vietnam ranked 7th among the top 10 countries receiving the vaccine support from the country.

Vietnam has also signed commercial agreements with US vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer to realise its goal of having about 70 percent of its population provided with the first shot by the first quarter of 2022.

In his visit to Vietnam last month,  US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said his country pledged to donate 77 cold storage freezers to help Vietnam store  COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US has committed to providing Vietnam with over 20 million USD in aid to support the Southeast Asian country in the fight against the pandemic.