(VOVworld) – President Truong Tan Sang and his entourage left for an official visit to the United States on Tuesday at the invitation of President Barack Obama. During his stay from July 24^th to 26th, President Sang will hold talks and meet with senior US government and parliamentary leaders as well as representatives from a number of international organizations and the Vietnamese community in the US. Other members of the delegation will meet with their US partners to discuss ways to boost cooperation between the two countries.

President Truong Tan Sang met with President Barack Obama at the APEC summit in 2011

The US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told the press in Washington on Monday that President Sang’s official visit to the US is an important event in bilateral relations. He said that as Vietnam is an important nation in Southeast Asia and in the context of the US focusing its foreign policy on this region, the visit would be a good chance to foster bilateral cooperation in regional strategic issues including the East Sea. He added that the visit would help the US to strengthen its cooperation with ASEAN and prepare for President Obama’s visit to Myanmar where he will attend the East Asia Summit. Russel said both countries will discuss specific areas in which the US can assist Vietnam in dealing with climate change issues. Russel said that talks between the two Presidents would focus primarily on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.