Viet Nam, US to further intensify bilateral relations: top diplomats

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn holds a phone talk with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday morning (Việt Nam time). – VNA/VNS Photo

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of shared concern during their phone talks on Friday.

Son congratulated Blinken on the US’ recent successes in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic and initially recovering the economy and thanked the US Government for assisting Việt Nam in the fight against coronavirus, especially in accessing vaccines.

He highly valued Blinken's significant contributions to bilateral relations, expressing his readiness to co-operate closely with the official to further promote the Việt Nam-US comprehensive partnership.

Việt Nam would continue making efforts to achieve stable and harmonious trade ties with the US, and it hoped that the US would soon conclude the investigations related to the Vietnamese currency issue under Section 301, he said.

The minister also spoke highly of the US Government’s investment commitments to the Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) so as to turn the FUV into a leading centre for training high-quality human resources for not only Việt Nam but also the entire region.

Blinken highlighted his country’s support for a strong, independent, and prosperous Việt Nam, noting that the US Department of State would work with relevant agencies to continue bringing the Việt Nam-US relations to a new height.

Speaking highly of Việt Nam’s successes in coping with COVID-19, he said the US would keep assisting countries, including Việt Nam, to access vaccines via the COVAX Facility and partner nations.

He also congratulated the Southeast Asian country on successfully taking over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020, and pledged continued support for Việt Nam to fulfill its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-21.

The US attached importance to and supports ASEAN’s centrality in the region and the Mekong-US partnership, Blinken said, adding that it wanted both sides to continue enhancing co-ordination in the issues of common concern at regional and international mechanisms, thereby helping to consolidate peace, stability, co-operation, and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole.

During the talks, the two ministers shared the view that the Việt Nam-US relations were growing well in various areas, based on their respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, political regimes, and mutual benefits.

They agreed to continue strengthening collaboration so as to help further expand and intensify bilateral relations, with a focus on economic - trade - investment links, settlement of war consequences, maritime capacity building, science - technology, education-training, COVID-19 prevention and control, climate change response, and environmental protection. – VNS