Vietnam PM to have working week in US

The PM will join other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members at the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit on May 12 and 13 at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The summit is held on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-U.S. relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Sunday statement.

Chinh will lead the Vietnamese delegation for other visits and meetings with the U.S. and the United Nations between May 11 and 17.

The ASEAN-U.S. dialogue relationship was established in 1977 and upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2015. The U.S. is the bloc’s second-largest trading partner after China, and largest investor.

By the end of last year, the U.S. announced that it had provided more than 42 million doses of vaccines and supported more than $200 million for ASEAN countries to fight the pandemic. The U.S. also contributed $500,000 to the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund.

Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. The two sides are implementing the Joint Strategic Plan for the period 2017-2021, supporting Vietnam in the implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy plan in 2016-2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals, which comprise four priority areas: investing in people; ensuring climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability; promoting prosperity and partnerships; promoting justice, achieving peace and comprehensive governance.

Vietnam and the U.S., two former foes, normalized relations in 1995.

Milestones in the bilateral ties included the U.S. fully lifting the lethal arms ban on Vietnam during President Barack Obama’s visit in May 2016, and sending aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to Da Nang in March 2018, marking the biggest U.S. military presence in Vietnam since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

Bilateral trade has surged from $450 million in 1994 to $111.56 billion in 2021.