The Peace Corps, a US program whose volunteers travel overseas to help people, will officially set foot in Vietnam under an agreement signed during President Barack Obama’s visit from May 23 to 25.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Peace Corps’ primary duty in Vietnam will be teaching English.

President Obama announced on May 23 in Hanoi that the Vietnamese government had agreed to allow the Peace Corps to operate in the country.

“I am delighted that the Peace Corps will arrive in Vietnam,” President Obama was quoted as telling a news conference held jointly with State President Tran Dai Quang.

“Peace Corps volunteers will focus on the teaching of English and the friendly relations between the two countries will be closer in the decades to come.”

The Peace Corps was established under a decree signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

During his presidential election campaign, President Kennedy called on university students in the US to spend two years of their lives helping people in developing countries.

More than 220,000 Americans have since taken part in Peace Corps activities in 140 countries.