US Navy and Coast Guard ships dock at Cam Ranh Port

On the afternoon of July 8, after the Coast Guard ship Waesche, the Navy ship USS Blue Rigde and more than 1,000 officers and sailors docked at Cam Ranh International Port, representatives of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Military Command, the Naval Region 4 Command, and the Coast Guard Region 3 Command went to the wharf to welcome the ships.

US Navy ship USS Blue Ridge docks at Cam Ranh International Port, Khanh Hoa province

From July 8 to 12, Vice Admiral Fred Kacher, Commander of the 7th Fleet, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper and the Commanders of the two ships paid courtesy calls to the leaders of Khanh Hoa province; the 7th Fleet Band performed music at Nha Trang Beach Park; Officers and sailors had a cultural exchange with Khanh Hoa University and interacted with children at the Shelter in Cam Ranh city.

The visit of the US Navy ship USS Blue Ridge and Coast Guard ship Waesche aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two Navies in particular, and the Vietnam-US defense relationship in general, in line with the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

On behalf of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Le Huu Hoang, Permanent Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, said that in recent years, Khanh Hoa province and the United States have implemented many cooperation programs and activities in the fields of education and training, technology, innovation, health, etc. Khanh Hoa province is a locality with a lot of potential, strengths and plays a particularly important strategic role in Vietnam.

USS Blue Ridge, 7th Fleet, United States Navy

Notably, in the first 6 months of 2024, the United States was the province's largest export market with more than 140 million USD, an increase of more than 30% over the same period last year.

The visit of two US ships to Cam Ranh International Port contributes to making the friendship and cooperation between Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam and the United States increasingly strong and effective, contributing to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United States.

Currently, in Khanh Hoa province, there are 17 foreign non-governmental organizations of US nationality that have been granted registration to operate in the province. In 2023, Khanh Hoa province received 5 aid projects from non-governmental organizations, mainly in the field of social protection with a total budget of 250 thousand USD.

Khanh Hoa Provincial leaders received the Commander of the 7th Fleet and the US Ambassador to Vietnam for a courtesy visit.

Khanh Hoa Province hopes that the US Embassy will continue to implement projects to support the construction of new schools and medical stations to help students in poor and disadvantaged communes of the province; and coordinate to host the Pacific Partnership Program for the period 2025 - 2026.

Mr. Le Huu Hoang, Standing Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Province, expressed his hope that the US would continue to support tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchange; support tourism communication between the two sides, mainly using online communication to widely and quickly reach US tourists.

Mr. Le Huu Hoang, Permanent Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee presented a souvenir painting to the ship's Commander.

The province proposed to support and coordinate to invite Fam Trip, Press Trip, and Mediatrip delegations from US states to Khanh Hoa province to survey outstanding tourism products and services in Khanh Hoa province.

Source: https://vov.vn/quan-su-quoc-phong/tau-hai-quan-va-tuan-duyen-hoa-ky-cap-cang-cam-ranh-post1106731.vov