Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his entourage returned to Hanoi on June 2, concluding the US visit from May 29-31 at the invitation of President Donald Trump. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and US President Donald Trump

It was the first visit to the US by the PM in his role as head of government.

In Washington DC, PM Phuc and President Trump held talks and met the press. It was their first meeting since the two nations chose new leadership. 

During talks, the two leaders expressed their delight at the development of the bilateral comprehensive partnership in diverse areas, bilaterally and multilaterally and agreed that there are opportunities ahead to develop ties further. 

Host and guest committed to developing stable, long-term, constructive and mutually beneficial ties for the sake of the two countries and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the world, on the basis of compliance with the United Nations Charter and international law, respect to independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the political regimes of each other. 

They vowed to boost bilateral links in humanitarian affairs, post-war recovery, people-to-people exchange, science-technology, education-training, health care and national defence-security. 

Both sides underscored the importance of maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea and expressed support for peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law, including respecting diplomatic and legal processes. 

They also lauded the progress of negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the East Sea. 

Trump stated that the US supports ASEAN’s central role, the promotion of the US-ASEAN strategic partnership and Vietnam’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum 2017, saying that he looks forward to visiting Vietnam in November to attend the APEC Leaders’ Meeting. 

Following the talks, the two sides issued a joint statement on Vietnam-US Relations. 

While in the capital, the Vietnamese leader met with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, had phone calls with four congressional leaders and attended a banquet hosted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. 

In New York, he met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and attended a ceremony celebrating Vietnam’s 40-years of UN membership. 

During his stay, the PM met and talked with business executives from NASDAQ, ExxonMobil, Coca Cola, Nike, Boeing, ASG, McKinsey, General Electrics, Murphy Oil and Hilton. 

While attending a round-table conference on Vietnam-US investment and financial cooperation and a banquet hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-ASEAN Business Council  with hundreds of US firms and several Vietnamese companies in attendance, the PM witnessed the signing of 19 deals worth nearly 12 billion USD. 

Meeting with US politicians and scholars at the Heritage Foundation, the world’s leading institution on independent policy research, he delivered a keynote speech entitled “Opportunities, challenges to peace, security, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and development of Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership”. 

VNA