(VOVWORLD) - US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday evening, beginning a visit to Vietnam as part of her first official tour of Southeast Asia.
 Kamala Harris arrives at Hanoi’s Noi Bai international airport on August 24, 2021, becoming the first US Vice President to visit Vietnam. |
Harris is the first US Vice President to ever visit Vietnam.
According to a White House statement, during the trip, she will engage the leaders of both governments on issues of mutual interest, including regional security, the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and joint efforts to promote a rules-based international order, the statement said.
The Vice President will also affirm and celebrate the strong cultural and people-to-people ties between the US and Vietnam.
The visit is expected to strengthen relationships and expand economic cooperation between the US and important partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
Harris is scheduled to meet Vietnamese leaders, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and attend the inauguration of an office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Hanoi, which will work to deal with issues related to infectious diseases in Southeast Asia.
The US is currently the largest COVID-19 vaccine donor for Vietnam with 5 million Moderna doses.
It has also pledged more than 20 million USD in aid to support Vietnam’s fight against the pandemic, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).