(VOVWORLD) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. The visit, Pompeo’s first trip to Southeast Asia since he took office in April, marks a milestone in Vietnam-US ties.
Vietnam is part of Mr. Pompeo’s Asian tour after North Korea and Japan. US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Vietnam is an important partner of the US and an excellent example of promoting economic ties with other countries.
Fine political relation continues
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited the US last year creating momentum for bilateral ties. The same year, US President Donald Trump visited Vietnam on his first trip to Southeast Asia, becoming the first US President to visit Vietnam during his first year in office.
In March, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson made a historic trip to Vietnam as part of efforts to strengthen the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership and contribute to peace, stability, security, cooperation, and development in the region.
Mr. Pompeo’s visit to Vietnam is aimed at furthering the bilateral comprehensive partnership in a more practical and effective manner, especially in politics-diplomacy, economics-trade-investment, national defense-security, and war-aftermath relief.
Anthony Nelson, Director in charge of East Asia and Pacific Affairs of the Albright Stonebridge Consulting Group, commented: “We’ve seen from the Trump administration that they have prioritized and engaged with Asia. They’ve taken numerous foreign trips so I think that there’s no doubt that the US is prioritizing its relationship with Asia.
Bilateral trade grows
Bilateral trade turnover has continued to grow in recent years reaching 51 billion USD last year after increasing 40 fold from 2000 to 2017. James Fatheree is former Vice President and Acting head of Asia of the US Chamber of Commerce: “We hope to see great cooperation between the US and Vietnam. I think our relation in the past few years have moved into a positive direction from the previous administration. We hope the Trump administration will continue to see Vietnam as an important emerging economy in Southeast Asia and within ASEAN. As I sadi American businesses are excited about Vietnam because of the population, the economic growth, and the movement in economic reform. So I think we will encourage the administration to work with Vietnam as a key partner.”