Vietnamese FM holds talks with U.S. Secretary of State
VGP – Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed ways to boost Viet Nam-U.S. relations, regional and international issues of shared concerns over the phone on Friday.
Bui congratulated Blinken on his country’s recent successful efforts in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and rebooting economic recovery.
He thanked the U.S. Administration for assisting Viet Nam in the fight against the pandemic, especially its access to vaccine sources, highly valuing Blinken’s contributions to the bilateral ties, and expressing his willingness to work closely with Blinken to further promote the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.
Viet Nam will continue striving to take measures towards a stable and harmonious trade ties with the U.S., reassured Bui.
He also spoke highly of the U.S. Administration’s commitments to investing in the Fulbright University Viet Nam (FUV) in order to turn it into one of the leading high-quality workforce training establishments in the Southeast Asian country and the region as well.
Blinken restated the U.S. support for a strong, independent, and prosperous Viet Nam, promising to collaborate with Vietnamese counterparts to further advance the Viet Nam-U.S. relationship to a new height.
The U.S. will continue support for Viet Nam to access COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility as President Joe Biden had pledged to donate 80 million vaccine doses to the rest of the world, said Blinken.
He pledged to continue support for Viet Nam to fulfill its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nation Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure, affirming that the U.S. attaches importance to and back the ASEAN centrality as well as the Mekong-US partnership launched in 2020 as an expansion of the Lower Mekong Initiative.
He also expressed his wish that both countries will continue strengthening coordination over issues of common concerns at regional and international mechanisms, contributing to consolidation of peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the world.
Both sides noted with pleasure at the positive development of bilateral cooperation across fields based on respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political systems.
They agreed to further enhance cooperation aimed at expanding and deepening the sides’ relationship, with a focus on such fields like economy-trade-investment, handling of war consequences, climate change adaptation, maritime capacity building, and COVID-19 prevention and control./.
By Ngoc Van
