​Vietnam-US cooperation in key sectors expanded after elevation of ties

​Vietnam-US cooperation in key sectors expanded after elevation of ties

Bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and the U.S. has expanded across all key areas over the past year, bringing benefits to both countries, according to the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken during the Vietnamese diplomat’s visit to the U.S. in March, 2024. Photo: Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On September 10 last year, late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and U.S. President Joe Biden announced the elevation of the Vietnam - U.S. relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Biden's state visit to Vietnam.

Multiple exchanges of high-level delegations between Vietnam and the U.S. have taken place in the year since the lifting of the relations.

Both nations continue to engage on key issues in the bilateral relationship through new dialogues, including the U.S. - Vietnam Economic Dialogue and the U.S. - Vietnam Law Enforcement and Security Dialogue.

The U.S. Embassy stated that the Vietnam - U.S. economic relationship remains strong, forward-looking, and positive.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Alexis Taylor led the largest-ever agricultural trade delegation to Vietnam earlier this week, bringing representatives from 50 U.S. businesses and nine states’ departments of agriculture to mark the first anniversary of the Vietnam - U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

In August, Vietnam approved the import of California nectarines and peaches to the country.

In June, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper headed a record-breaking delegation of 65 Vietnamese businesses to the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C..

The first Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Economic Dialogue, which is a new forum to discuss economic and policy cooperation, was also held in June.

The U.S. Mission to Vietnam, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is supporting Vietnam’s growing digital economy, through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade for a US$3.2-million new program focused on digital trade.

Efforts are underway to enhance technical skills training and workforce development at every level through expanded Vietnam - U.S. institutional and public-private partnerships.

These efforts include expanded English language training for STEM students, new exchange programs dedicated to workforce development, new Fulbright scholarship opportunities for STEM students and experts, and the September 11 launch of the new $4-million ITSI-CHIPS Workforce Accelerator Program in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to build capacity in the semiconductor industry.

USAID also launched a $15.5-million Higher Education Development Support project.

As for cooperation on national defense and security, the first U.S.-Vietnam Law Enforcement and Security Dialogue was held in July.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Vietnamese counterparts have launched new efforts to counter illegal timber trafficking.

In July, the U.S. Navy’s USS Blue Ridge and the U.S. Coast Guard’s cutter Waesche made a port call to Cam Ranh Port for community relations and cultural events in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam.

The U.S. remains committed to addressing the legacies of war, having pledged more than $26 million in grants to non-profit institutions to improve the safety in communities affected by unexploded ordnance over the last year.

USAID also completed successful pilot testing of the dioxin treatment process to be used at Bien Hoa Airbase in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam.

In multiple ceremonies held over the past year, the U.S. returned personal artifacts to more than ten families of Vietnamese military veterans as part of the Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative.

Through the Mekong Delta Coastal Habitat Conservation project, the U.S. is also building resilience of coastal mangrove ecosystems and increasing its partnership with Vietnam in the Mekong Delta region.

Washington continues to advance cooperation under the Just Energy Transition Partnership ahead of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The U.S. Embassy highlighted that USAID and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been actively collaborating on health projects in Vietnam.

Tuoi Tre News