At the invitation of US President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will join other ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN-US Special Summit to mark the 45th anniversary of the ASEAN – US relationship, which is scheduled to take place in Washington D.C from May 12-13. On the occasion, PM Pham Minh Chinh will lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to pay a working visit to the US and the United Nations (UN) from May 11-17. His trip aims to affirm Vietnam’s position and responsibility in ASEAN, raise the central role of the association, and foster ASEAN-US relations. In addition, it seeks to strengthen and deepen Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership with the US and contribute to the comprehensive and effective cooperation between Vietnam and the UN.

The working trip also aims to implement the Politburo’s Conclusion No. 12-KL/TW, dated August 12, 2021, on overseas Vietnamese (OV) affairs in the new situation, illustrating the care for the Overseas Vietnamese community in the US and calling for Overseas Vietnamese to maintain strong attachment to their homeland and make practical and effective contributions to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and national defence.

Since its establishment in 1977, the ASEAN – US dialogue partnership has gone through many stages and has achieved many positive results in many fields. The two sides upgraded their relations to a Strategic Partnership at the third ASEAN-US Summit on November 21, 2015. Since then, the ASEAN-US relationship has developed in a deeper and more practical manner with increased mutual trust, while bilateral cooperation has been comprehensively implemented in all areas of political-security, economic, society, and culture, in addition to development cooperation on the basis of their plan of action for 2021-2025.

At the 13th ASEAN-US Joint Cooperation Committee meeting in April, ASEAN and the US affirmed that the bilateral cooperation has been extended and covers many fields, across all the three ASEAN Community pillars. The two sides also acknowledged the progresses made in the implementation of the ASEAN-US Action Plan for the 2021-2025 period.

Regarding political-security cooperation, ASEAN and the US have maintained regular cooperation mechanisms via summits, Foreign Ministers Meetings, and meetings of the Joint Cooperation Committee. The US has participated fully in and contributed actively to cooperation mechanisms and frameworks led by ASEAN like the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+). The US has also made commitments to support ASEAN’s solidarity, unity and centrality. The two sides have stepped up collaboration in responding to non-traditional challenges covering maritime security, the fight against terrorists and transnational crimes, and cyber security…

The two sides have also gained positive results in economic and trade cooperation. The US is now the bloc’s second biggest trade partner and largest FDI supplier, with two-way trade reaching 308.3 billion USD and investment worth 34.7 billion USD in 2020.

Regarding socio-cultural cooperation, ASEAN and the US are committed to promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges, education, human resource development, protection of migrant workers’ rights, women empowerment, and more...  

In terms of development cooperation, the US will implement programmes of Inclusive Growth in ASEAN through Innovation, Trade and E-Commerce (IGNITE) and the Partnership for Regional Optimisation in the Political-Security and Socio-Cultural Communities (PROSPECT).

In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN and the US actively coordinated right after the pandemic broke out while proposing and organising many activities to share information and experience as well as supporting each other to overcome the consequences of the epidemic and promoting a comprehensive and sustainable recovery.

The US announced its contribution of 500,000 USD to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund and pledged to support ASEAN in implementing the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework. By the end of 2021, the US announced that it had provided more than 42 million doses of vaccines and over 200 million USD for ASEAN countries to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the occasion of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Vietnam in August 2021, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Southeast Asia Regional Office made its debut in Hanoi.

In addition to the annual summits held since 2013, the two sides held the ASEAN-US Special Summit in California, US in February 2016. This is the first important international conference between the Association and a partner country right after the establishment of the ASEAN Community, affirming the two sides’ appreciation for the close relationship between ASEAN and the US. In 2017, the two sides also held a Summit to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-US dialogue relations in the Philippines.

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the partnership, the ASEAN-US Special Summit will hold in Washington, D.C. in order to assess the overall journey of the relationship and set forth important cooperation orientations between the two sides for the coming time. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Within the framework of the Special Summit, ASEAN and the US will also hold separate and in-depth discussions on cooperation topics such as economics, trade, investment, cooperation and maritime security, post-pandemic recovery, climate change response, energy, science and technology, sustainable infrastructure development, and others...

The special summit in Washington will also show US President Joe Biden’s personal interest in ASEAN. At the 9th ASEAN-US Summit in October 2021, President Joe Biden expressed his support for ASEAN’s central role in its efforts to build a rules-based regional order and structure as per the values ​​and principles outlined in the ASEAN Perspectives on the Indo-Pacific region.

As a proactive, active and responsible member of the association, Vietnam has taken on important responsibilities including the ASEAN Chair in 2010 and 2020 as well as made great contributions and initiatives to boost and elevate the ASEAN-US relationship.

At the 9th ASEAN-US Summit, PM Pham Minh Chinh asked ASEAN and the US to strengthen the strategic partnership in all three aspects of security, socio-economic recovery, and sustainable and inclusive development. Highly appreciating the timely and practical support from the US to ASEAN countries in responding to COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the US provide active support in improving the early warning capacity of medical emergency situations through the US CDC Southeast Asia Regional Office in Hanoi.

To celebrate the 45th anniversary, both ASEAN and the US look forward to consolidating and deepen ing their strategic partnership. In that spirit, the Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will fully and appropriately attend activities within the framework of this special summit. The two sides will make contributions to discussions and exchanges in the spirit of sincerity, trust and cooperation, towards developing the ASEAN-US strategic partnership to a new height for peace, stability and sustainable prosperity in the region and in the world.

With its contributions, Vietnam has been trusted to be elected to many important positions and agencies of the UN and has made many marks.

After successfully completing the 2008-2009 term, Vietnam won the election to become a non-permanent member of the UNSC for 2020-2021 after receiving 192 votes from the 193 members of the UN General Assembly, showing a high sense of responsibility in the efforts to maintain international and regional peace and security.

Vietnam also holds many important positions at United Nations agencies such as member of the Postal Operations Council (POC) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for the 2022-2025 term, the 2021-2023 term Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and the International Law Commission (ILC) for the 2023-2027 tenure. Vietnam is running for election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in the 2023-2025 tenure along with several UN mechanisms such as the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) for the 2023-2028 term and the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) for the 2023-2027 term.

Positive and effective results in the 45-year relationship between Vietnam and the UN will create favourable conditions for joint efforts in overcoming shortcomings, expanding and improving the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, supporting Vietnam's national development and international integration, and contributing to enhancing the role of the United Nations in the new era.

With the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, Vietnam-US cooperation in recent years has recorded positive developments in both breadth and depth, becoming more substantive and more strategic while mutual interest and understanding have also increased. The two countries’ leaders have maintained phone talks at all levels. Vietnam successfully organised various activities of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021 and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s meetings with President Biden and Special Envoy John Kerry on the sidelines of COP26 in October 2021.

During the talks, the US side reaffirmed its commitment to support a strong, independent and prosperous Vietnam and continued to express the value of relations with Vietnam, asking the two sides to take steps to enhance bilateral relations, with priority in business-trade, security-defence, healthcare and energy.

Economic cooperation remains the field of cooperation with the most substantive common benefits in Vietnam-US relations. Bilateral trade continues to grow strongly, having reached 111.56 billion USD in 2021. The US remains Vietnam’s largest export market while Vietnam is the US’s ninth largest trading partner. The two sides are actively implementing an action plan towards a harmonious and sustainable trade balance while maintaining dialogue to enhance cooperation and deal with unresolved issues in their trade ties.

During President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s working trip to the US to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021, the two countries’ enterprises exchanged many cooperation agreements and commercial contracts worth nearly 30 billion USD. Notably, the Vietnamese Prime Minister, National Assembly Chairman and leaders of relevant agencies all received the US business delegation in March 2022 to help address the concerns of US businesses so as to facilitate their production recovery and to maintain their confidence in the long-term business and investment climate in Vietnam.

As of March 2022, US foreign direct investment (FDI) has reached 10.3 billion USD, ranking 11th among 141 countries and territories with FDI in Vietnam. Major US enterprises continue to invest in the Vietnamese market, with Intel announcing an additional investment of 500 million USD in its factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Foxconn, a key manufacturing partner of Apple, also poured an additional 270 million USD into Bac Giang Province... The US side expressed its willingness to promote cooperation in fields of interest to Vietnam such as infrastructure development, supply chain, energy, and digital economy. On March 29, 2022, Vinfast signed a contract to build an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility worth 4 billion USD in North Carolina.

Security-defence cooperation has been actively maintained with diverse cooperation contents, especially the exchange of delegations, high-level contacts, cooperation in overcoming war consequences, and improving maritime capacity. The issue of overcoming the consequences of war continues to be a priority. MIA activities, searching for the remains of Vietnamese soldiers, handling dioxins, and supporting people with disabilities continued to be promoted. Vietnam has actively cooperated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) on cooperation in improving the capacity of DNA examination of remains from the war…

Education cooperation has made many positive strides as the two sides continued to promote education-training cooperation and technology transfer. The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced the financial commitment of 37 million USD via a direct loan to support the construction of Fulbright University Vietnam’s new campus in Ho Chi Minh City; and continues to coordinate preparations for US volunteers to come to Vietnam to teach English. Currently, Vietnam has 6 US-invested educational institutions in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and Binh Duong.

Medical cooperation and response to Covid-19 continues to be a bright spot, especially in supporting each other with medical equipment and vaccines, and sharing experience in disease prevention and citizen protection. To date, the US has supported Vietnam with nearly 40 million doses of vaccine, including nearly 39 million doses through the COVAX mechanism. The US side also transferred 111 refrigerators to Vietnam for the preservation of the Pfizer vaccine; proposed to provide aid with the US-made CUE rapid test kit; and coordinated the transfer of the latest mRNA vaccine technology and therapeutic drugs to Vietnamese partners. The US side also opened a regional CDC office in Hanoi on the occasion of the visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Regarding regional and international cooperation, the two countries continue to coordinate in international and regional issues of mutual concern such as the Mekong, Myanmar, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially within the framework of the United Nations Security Council and within ASEAN mechanisms.