President Joe Biden to make state visit to Vietnam from Sunday

U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 4, 2023. Photo by Reuters

The visit will celebrate 10 years of Comprehensive Partnership between Vietnam and the U.S. It will be President Biden’s first visit to Vietnam since he took office in early 2021.

The White House announced in an earlier statement that President Biden will meet Vietnam's Communist Party leader Trong and other top Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi 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," said the statement by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Vietnam and the U.S. normalized relations in July 1995, before upgrading their relationship to comprehensive partnership in July 2013.

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 former President Trump.

The two countries' 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 eighth-largest commercial partner for the U.S.

The countries have also reinforced their collaborations in the fields of education and national defense.

The U.S. lifted the lethal arms ban on Vietnam in 2016 and has since transferred two Hamilton-class Coast Guard cutters to Vietnam, in 2017 and 2020, respectively. A transfer of the third cutter has reportedly been endorsed.