Vietnam is ready to promote the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States.

On the morning of March 27, at the National Assembly House, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Chairwoman of the Emerging Threats Subcommittee, US Senate Armed Services Committee and delegation.

On behalf of the Vietnamese National Assembly, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue welcomed Ms. Kirsten Gillibrand, US senators and congressmen... to visit and work in Vietnam.

This is the second visit by US Congressmen to Vietnam in 2024 after the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The National Assembly Chairman expressed his belief that the delegation's visit to Vietnam this time will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust, bringing the relationship between the two National Assemblies as well as cooperation between the two countries to develop more deeply and substantially.

Ms. Kirsten Gillibrand thanked National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue for his warm welcome; expressed her delight that the two countries' relationship had been upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which shows that Vietnam is the leading partner of the United States in the Indo- Pacific region.

The Senator thanked the Government and people of Vietnam for their cooperation in resolving the consequences of war, searching for the remains of US soldiers and Vietnamese martyrs, supporting people with disabilities; continuing to fulfill commitments in resolving the consequences of war; wishing to promote cooperation in areas where the US has strengths such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, veterinary medicine; promoting people-to-people exchanges through educational cooperation...

At the meeting, senators and congressmen from several US states expressed their joy at returning to the beautiful country of Vietnam, affirming their desire to promote bilateral relations in areas where the US has strengths such as energy, highways, liquefied natural gas, clean fuels, coal processing into construction materials, green energy transition, semiconductors, environment, high-performance sports, etc.

In a sincere and open atmosphere, the National Assembly Chairman thanked Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the delegates in the delegation for showing good feelings towards the country and people of Vietnam.

Welcoming the comments that outlined the bilateral relationship, areas of cooperation as well as at the local level, the National Assembly Chairman stated that Vietnam considers the United States a partner of strategic importance and highly appreciates the United States' consistent policy of supporting a strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Vietnam.

Vietnam is ready to work with the United States to promote the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in an increasingly substantive, in-depth, and stable manner on the basis of respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political institutions, in accordance with the interests of the two peoples and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region.

The upgrading of the relationship between the two sides to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has created momentum and opened up new space for the two countries to strengthen cooperation in all channels (Party, State, National Assembly and people); in all fields, including traditional and breakthrough fields such as: innovation, artificial intelligence, human resource training, cooperation in semiconductors, supply chains, energy conversion, including sports, especially high-performance sports, where Vietnam is in great need of international cooperation.

Vietnam welcomes the United States to enhance responsible cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region, and hopes that the United States, through the Indo-Pacific Strategy and regional initiatives, will continue to strongly demonstrate its commitment to supporting ASEAN's central role, the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Mekong-US Partnership, making positive contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Discussing some specific areas of cooperation, the National Assembly Chairman thanked and appreciated the support of the two political parties in the US Congress and the Congressmen in the delegation in promoting the relationship between the two countries in recent times.

The two sides have actively implemented the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and achieved many concrete results. Delegation exchanges have taken place regularly and have had substantive content, maintaining annual dialogue mechanisms and discussing the establishment of new dialogue mechanisms, welcoming the United States to officially initiate consideration of removing Vietnam from the list of non-market economies.

The two sides continued to promote cooperation in the fields of overcoming war consequences, humanitarian cooperation, capacity building; and enhanced coordination in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on semiconductors.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, cooperation between the two countries' parliaments is an important component in the overall Vietnam - US relationship.

In 2023, the two sides will increase mutual visits. These visits have contributed to enhancing understanding and trust between the two sides, and at the same time, reinforced the United States' interest and support for the development of bilateral relations.

The National Assembly Chairman hopes that US Congressmen will continue to contribute more to deepening the relationship between the two countries and the two National Assemblies in the coming time, commensurate with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; promote the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-ranking delegations between the two National Assemblies.

There have been five delegations of US congressmen visiting Vietnam in 2023 and two delegations since the beginning of the year, showing that the United States highly values its relationship with Vietnam.

The Vietnamese National Assembly looks forward to welcoming the President of the Senate, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue takes a photo with the US Senate delegation. Photo: VNA

Along with that, the two sides will study the establishment of dialogue mechanisms, exchange mechanisms, and coordination between the two National Assemblies and their agencies; expand cooperation in various forms to help US and Vietnamese congressmen better understand the situation in each country, especially among young congressmen, female congressmen, congressional assistants, etc.; help promote the establishment of the Group of US Congressmen Friendly to Vietnam, playing an important bridging role in promoting and supporting the US Government to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in accordance with the conditions of the two countries.

The National Assembly Chairman emphasized that cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war continues to be a bright spot in the bilateral relationship, contributing significantly to the process of reconciliation, healing and building trust between the two peoples, and opening up more opportunities for cooperation in other important areas; at the same time, he proposed that the US Congress continue to give high priority to cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war; increase the budget for overcoming dioxin hotspots, clearing bombs and mines, supporting people with disabilities and searching for and identifying the remains of Vietnamese martyrs.

The National Assembly Chairman affirmed that Vietnam will continue to fully cooperate with the US in the MIA inventory as it has done over the past 50 years, including joint and unilateral activities.

In terms of economic, trade and investment cooperation, Vietnam has become one of the 7 largest trading partners of the United States and an important part of the regional supply chain. The United States is Vietnam's second largest trading partner and largest export market.

The National Assembly Chairman proposed that the US Congress support maintaining stable and long-term trade relations between the two countries and encourage the creation of a favorable legal environment for investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam has undergone nearly 40 years of Renovation, participating in 19 bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with most economies in the world, of which 16/19 FTAs have come into effect with more than 60 partners.

Hundreds of US businesses are doing business and investing in Vietnam, and currently a number of countries including the UK, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have recognized the fact that Vietnam has a market economy. Therefore, considering removing Vietnam from the list of non-market economies is also a support for Vietnam's legitimate aspirations.

The National Assembly Chairman said that Vietnam has issued the Power Plan VIII, wishing to cooperate in the fields of liquefied gas, renewable energy, wind power, and solar power; affirming the determination to transform energy, implementing commitments at COP26, Vietnam wishes to cooperate internationally, including the United States in building policies, institutions, capital, and technology to gradually reduce the use of coal power, and increase the use of clean electricity and renewable energy.

On this occasion, the National Assembly Chairman affirmed that the National Assembly and the Vietnamese Government always strive to perfect the legal framework, improve the investment environment, enhance competitiveness, and create favorable conditions for businesses, including US businesses, to cooperate and invest in Vietnam; and requested that Congressmen continue to pay attention to creating conditions for the Vietnamese community in the US to integrate, grow, and contribute to the relationship between the two countries.

Discussing international and regional issues of mutual concern, the National Assembly Chairman emphasized that Vietnam highly appreciates the Mekong-US Partnership (MUSP), thanking the US for strengthening cooperation and supporting the region over the past years as well as the US supporting the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN regarding the East Sea.

At the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and US delegates emphasized the important role of the market economy; highly appreciated the fact that the trade turnover between the two countries has exceeded the threshold of 100 billion USD/year; and said that the two sides need to continue to increase trade of quality products from each country to each other's markets.

US delegates also expressed interest in the legal framework for promoting innovation, cooperation in education, and training of human resources for the development of the semiconductor industry.

The National Assembly Chairman shared that after the war, Vietnam has only had about 40 years of space and time to develop its economy and society. As a latecomer, Vietnam needs to move faster to shorten the development gap, promote innovation, and prioritize industry, linked to education and training.

With the goal of striving for the digital economy to account for 20% of GDP by 2025, about 30% by 2030, currently only reaching 16% of GDP, the National Assembly and the Government are continuing to make efforts to innovate development-creating institutions, create a foundation for innovation, spread the desire to start a business; encourage large corporations to invest and establish innovation centers in Vietnam.

The National Assembly Chairman hopes that the US Congress and both houses will support Vietnam in implementing its commitments at COP26 and the Just Energy Transition Mechanism (JETP). The US and G7 countries will cooperate on technology, provide green financial resources... to help Vietnam achieve sustainable development goals based on Vietnam's own interests.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appreciated the sharing and exchanges of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and said that these sharing will be studied by the delegation to be able to cooperate for common values and goals between the two countries.

According to VNA/Vietnam+

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