The PM and his entourage were greeted at the airport by Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh and representatives from the US Department of State. With the presence of the PM and the high-level delegation at the summit, Vietnam intends to uphold its active and responsible role in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived at the Palm Spring airport
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The country will also continue with efforts to help deepen the ASEAN-US partnership and marshal the US’s cooperation and support for the ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular in fields of interest such as economy, science-technology, education-training, people-to-people exchange, coping with trans-national challenges, as well as in building capacity, expanding relations with partners, strengthening the bloc’s central role in the regional structure and maintaining peace and security in the region.
At the same time, the Vietnamese delegation will also work to promote bilateral relations between Vietnam and the US, especially cooperation in defence-security, science-technology, economic development, foreign investment attraction and the implementation of free trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
This ASEAN-US summit is of special significance as it is the first summit between the bloc and a partner country after the official formation of the ASEAN Community on December 31, 2015.
This is also the first time the ASEAN-US summit has been held in the US, which demonstrate the importance that both sides attach to their strategic partnership. The summit will discuss the orientation for and measures to implement their strategic partnership in a result-oriented and specific manner, together with regional and international issues of common concern.
PM Nguyen Tan Dung is scheduled to join leaders of other ASEAN countries and the US in debates on economy-trade and politics-security. He will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of several countries on the sidelines of the summit.
The summit is the first of its kind and builds on the elevation of the ASEAN-US relations to strategic partnership last November at the 3rd ASEAN-US Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The leaders are due to discuss measures to implement the ASEAN-US strategic partnership and exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern.
The US has become Viet Nam’s biggest export market since 2005. The two-way trade value rose more than 20% in recent years, soaring to US$36.6 billion in 2014 and US$37.34 billion in the first ten months of 2015. As of February last year, the US was the 7th biggest investor in Viet Nam with total registered capital of US$11.035 billion.
PM Dung’s attendance aims to reaffirm Viet Nam’s role as a proactive, active and responsible member of ASEAN in advancing the ASEAN-US strategic partnership in a practical and effective manner. Bilaterally, the tour is also expected to strengthen cooperation between Viet Nam and the US in such fields like security-defense, science-technology, investment, and deployment of free trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
