HCMC – The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport on October 29 to begin his official two-day visit to Vietnam, on the invitation of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States.
The visit is also aimed at reaffirming the strength of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries and discussing issues of mutual concern in the East Sea and Mekong region.
The third visit of the U.S. Secretary of State to Vietnam is part of an itinerary that includes several Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Pompeo will meet Minh, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Minister of Public Security To Lam during his Vietnam visit.
“Over the last quarter century, our countries have established a partnership and friendship founded on shared interests, mutual respect and people-to-people ties. Our everyday interactions are highlighted by the increasing trade and investment ties, strategic cooperation and collaboration over humanitarian and legacy of war issues, including the solemn duty of accounting for our wartime missing combatants,” Pompeo said in a statement.
“In recent years, we have strengthened and expanded our comprehensive partnership, based on a shared vision of a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region as well as respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political systems,” he added.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam on July 11, 1995. Since then, Vietnam has become one of America’s fastest growing markets, with the two-way trade in goods growing from almost zero to more than US$81 billion annually today.
In areas as diverse as trade, development, education, healthcare, energy and security, the two nations are working together with a shared commitment to peace and security.
Pompeo was sworn in as Secretary of State on April 26, 2018. He previously served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from January 2017 to April 2018.
He had visited Vietnam in July 2018 and February 2019.
