Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc (Photo: VNA)
During the online exchange, Mr. Kurt Campbell, Indo-Pacific Coordinator of the National Security Council, emphasized the importance of ASEAN in US policy and strengthening the connection between ASEAN Ambassadors in Washington and US Government agencies. He also hoped to soon have a meeting between Foreign Minister Blinken and ASEAN Foreign Ministers to discuss the cooperation fields between the US and ASEAN in the coming time.
At the meeting, DFC Acting Director Marchick emphasized that DFC hoped to play an active role in the development of Southeast Asia, with priority given to the Mekong sub-region.
DFC's activities under the Biden administration will focus on climate change response and sustainable development, promoting investment in green energy projects and climate adaptation. The DFC will also support the region to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic through strengthening health systems, distributing vaccines, and supporting SMEs in the fields of agriculture and education.
At the same time, the DFC will cooperate with partners such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Taiwan (China) to enhance the efficiency of investment projects. Mr. Marchick also affirmed that the DFC and Vietnam still have much potential for cooperation.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc congratulated the DFC Acting Director for holding the new assignment and expressed his thanks to Coordinator Kurt Campbell for creating a regular forum of exchange to promote relations between ASEAN and the US.
The Vietnamese Ambassador highly appreciated the DFC's efforts in projects to promote energy development, create trade facilitation, and medical support for the region. He suggested that the US government will continue to support countries in Southeast Asia and the Mekong sub-region, including Vietnam to develop sustainable supply chains, improve digital trade capacity, and strengthen investment in high-quality infrastructure projects such as Long Thanh airport, North-South expressway, renewable energy, and LNG liquefied natural gas.
Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc wants the US to support ASEAN countries to access COVID-19 vaccine, the DFC continues to promote investment in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP) as well as through US-ASEAN cooperation frameworks./.