President Biden set to pay State visit to Vietnam

HCMC – U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to pay a State visit to Vietnam from September 10 to 11 at the invitation of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

Biden has become the first President of the United States of America to accept an invitation from a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to visit the Southeast Asian country.

In a phone conversation in late March this year, Party General Secretary Trong and President Biden exchanged invitations to visit each other. The two accepted the invitations.

This will be President Biden’s first visit to Vietnam since he took office in early 2021. It will coincide with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive partnership between the two nations.

On August 29, Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, said high-level visits would help deepen ties between the two countries and thus contribute to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The forthcoming visit by President Biden would boost multifaceted relations between the two countries on a stable, substantial and long-term basis, she said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement posted on the White House website: “President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam on September 10, 2023.

“While in Hanoi, President Biden will meet with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders to discuss ways to further deepen cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. The leaders will explore opportunities to promote the growth of a technology-focused and innovation-driven Vietnamese economy, expand our people-to-people ties through education exchanges and workforce development programs, combat climate change, and increase peace, prosperity, and stability in the region.”