Vietnam regards US as one of its top important partners

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) welcomes former US Vice President Al Gore (Photo: VGP).

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement at a reception in Hanoi on August 3 for former US Vice President Al Gore, during which Phuc extolled the latter’s contributions to normalizing and promoting bilateral ties in the past.

In the context of the good relationship between Vietnam and the US, the PM urged the two countries to boost trade and investment in the coming time.

Vietnam attaches great importance to energy security in order to provide favourable conditions for the national economy to continue growing rapidly and sustainably in the time to come, Phuc said.

Over the past few years, Vietnam and the US have been actively cooperating in the energy sector, not only at the government but also at corporate level. During the recent visit to Vietnam by President Donald Trump, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group signed a memorandum of understanding on liquefied natural gas supply cooperation for ten years with the Alaska Gas Pipeline Development Corporation. The PM expressed hope that the two sides would solidify stronger cooperation in future.

Phuc also wished Al Gore, in what position he holds, would continue to contribute to the promotion of Vietnam-US relations to deliver benefits to the two countries’ people.

Al Gore, in turn, said Vietnam’s robust development has made significant contributions to regional development and recalled the PM’s speeches on environmental issues at the G7 Summit held in Canada in June and other international forums.

The former US Vice President spoke of his appreciation for Vietnam’s initiatives on global environment protection and climate change response.

As Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by climate change, the sustainable development of clean energy is seen as an important step to mitigate pollution and impact of climate change, he said, adding that the use of wind and solar power has become a trend in numerous nations like China, Japan and India thanks to its low cost.

Regarding Vietnam’s potential for solar and wind power development, the US guest said he hopes both sides would increase cooperation in this field.