Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc talks with US President Donald Trump (Photo: VNA)
According to a statement from the White House’s press office, President Donald Trump welcomed PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House on May 31st.
President Trump looks forward to discussing ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship and deepen regional cooperation with one of America’s important partners in Southeast Asia.
According to The National Interest, an article by Alexander Vuving, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the first national leader from Southeast Asia and the third from an Asian but not Middle Eastern country, after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese president Xi Jinping, to be hosted by President Donald Trump.
The author also reviewed that the US and Vietnam have important economic and security issues to discuss. With USD32 billion of bilateral-trade surplus, Vietnam ranked sixth among the countries that contributed to the US’ USD502 billion trade deficit last year.
Alexander Vuving also said that the visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister will bring a new level of US-Vietnam relations.
The US’s The National Interest online magazine on May 28th published an article by former Ambassador and head of the Vietnamese Mission to the UN Nguyen Thanh Chau, which pointed out strategic motivations driving the relationship between Vietnam and the US.
In the article, which was published on the occasion of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the US, the former Ambassador stressed that Phuc’s visit is the third important high-level delegation exchange between the two countries within the last three years.
In July 2015, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had a historic visit to the US, which was then reciprocated with US President Barack Obama’s successful trip to Vietnam in May 2016.
According to the AP, the US President is due to travel to Vietnam to attend an Asia-Pacific economic summit in November, which Phuc said would be an opportunity for the US to assert its positive role in the region.
"We have a major trade deficit with Vietnam, which will hopefully balance out in a short period of time. We expect to be able to do that," Trump said. He added that Vietnam had made a "very large order" worth billions of dollars that would create jobs for the US.
Phuc said US-Vietnam relations have "undergone significant upheaval, but today we have been able to become comprehensive partners." He said he has been impressed by Trump's friendliness and openness, and was confident bilateral cooperation would be enhanced.
Reuters also reported that on the visit US President Trump talked trade with Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on Wednesday and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would create.
The US Commerce Department announced 13 new transactions with Vietnam, worth USD8 billion, including USD3 billion worth of U.S.-produced content that would support more than 23,000 American jobs./.