President Biden leaves India, heads to Vietnam for state visit

The U.S. president arrived at Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi at around noon Sunday (Hanoi time), talking with staff of the U.S. Embassy before boarding the Air Force One to fly to Vietnam.

President Joe Biden at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, before heading to Hanoi, September 10, 2023. Photo by Reuters

He is scheduled to arrive at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi in the afternoon, starting his two-day visit.

The visit will be Biden’s first since taking office in early 2021. It comes as Vietnam and the U.S. are celebrating 10 years of Comprehensive Partnership.

His entourage include State Secretary Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink.

During the visit, President Biden will meet with Party chief Trong and other high-ranking Vietnamese officials, said Vietnamese ambassador to the U.S. Nguyen Quoc Dung, adding that two countries will review their Comprehensive Partnership and set out vision for the relationships for the future.

President Joe Biden in a photo released by the White House in 2021.

Biden's visit has been hailed by diplomats from both the U.S. and Vietnam as a highlight of the bilateral relations.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc called it a "very special" event, in which a U.S. president will visit Vietnam for the first time upon the invitation of the latter’s Communist Party leader.

Ngoc said the visit shows the two sides' respect for each other’s foreign affairs policy and policy regarding the Asia-Pacific and India Ocean regions.

"The visit shows that the U.S. respects Vietnam’s political system, highly values the role of Vietnam’s Communist Party, of General Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese leaders."

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said the the visit is "historic," and will be a milestone in the good relationship between the two leaders, who "hit it off" when they first met in Washington in 2015.

With his visit to Vietnam in November 2000, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam after the two countries established diplomatic ties. His successors George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all visited Vietnam during their presidency.

President Biden will be the second U.S. President to visit Vietnam during his first presidential term since 1995, following Trump.

Ambassador Dung said Biden’s visit will "open a new chapter in the Vietnam-U.S. relations, creating objective conditions that are more convenient for Vietnam to determine a higher position in the regional and global value chains."

Economic cooperation has been a focus in the two countries' relations.

Bilateral trade turnover reached over $123.86 billion in 2022, an 11% increase from 2021. The U.S. is Vietnam’s largest export market and its second-largest commercial partner. Vietnam is the seventh-largest commercial partner for the U.S.

Direct foreign investments from the U.S. to Vietnam reached over $11 billion, accounting for over 1,200 projects, placing it at 11th place among all countries and territories that invest directly into Vietnam.

The countries have also reinforced their collaborations in the field of education.

There are around 25,000 Vietnamese students studying in the U.S., contributing $1 billion to the country's economy.