Vietnam Aims to Elevate Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the U.S.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung hosted a reception for U.S. Ambassador to Viet Nam Jennifer Wicks in Hanoi on July 13, expressing the desire to further elevate the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between the two nations. The Prime Minister extended congratulations to Ambassador Wicks on her appointment and conveyed his regards to President Donald Trump and the U.S. Government and people on the occasion of their Independence Day. PM Le affirmed his confidence that Ambassador Wicks, with her extensive years of service within the U.S. Administration and deep understanding of the region, would make significant contributions to fostering a stable, substantive, and effective development of the Viet Nam-U.S. CSP. He reiterated that Viet Nam consistently regards the U.S. as one of its top important partners and supports a positive role by the U.S. in promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world. Both sides aim to promote economic and trade cooperation in a harmonious, sustainable, and mutually beneficial manner, swiftly resolve bottlenecks, and soon conclude negotiations and sign a reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade agreement, thereby creating a stable framework for businesses from both nations to expand investment, production, and business operations. Vietnam affirmed its readiness to accelerate administrative reforms and perfect its legal system towards transparency and modernity to better facilitate U.S. enterprises, adding that the country stands ready to listen to and address the legitimate concerns of businesses. In defense and security, both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in law enforcement, humanitarian assistance, cybersecurity, and transnational crime prevention. The Prime Minister expressed gratitude for the U.S. assistance in overcoming war legacies and called for continued U.S. support for dioxin remediation, unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, assistance for persons with disabilities, and the sharing of archives, documents, and DNA analysis technology to support the search for and identification of Vietnamese martyrs' remains. He also reaffirmed Viet Nam's commitment to the search for U.S. personnel missing in action (MIA). Furthermore, the expansion of cooperation in science and technology, innovation, human resource development, digital transformation, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges was proposed. Ambassador Jennifer Wicks recalled her honor of being received by General Secretary and President To Lam and shared the assessment that the Viet Nam-U.S. relationship has "never been better than it is today." She conveyed that the U.S. attaches great importance to its relations with Viet Nam and expressed appreciation from President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for Viet Nam's congratulations on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Independence Day. The Ambassador emphasized that economic and trade cooperation remains a top priority during her term and expressed her desire for both sides to maintain active exchanges to soon achieve a high-standard, reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade agreement, thereby creating more economic and investment opportunities for both countries. On defense and security, Ambassador Wicks observed ample room for cooperation in maritime security, law enforcement, and addressing transnational security challenges. She views continued cooperation in overcoming war legacies as an important humanitarian foundation of the bilateral relationship and expressed a desire to expand programs for dioxin remediation, UXO clearance, assistance for persons with disabilities, the search and identification of Vietnamese martyrs, and the repatriation of U.S. servicemen's remains. She also committed to promoting bilateral cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern, speaking highly of Viet Nam's role and expressing the desire for both sides to coordinate closely within the framework of the Peace Council on Gaza.