US President Donald Trump said in a farewell in Hanoi last month that he expected to welcome Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Oval Office in the White House.

Vietnam and the US are preparing for the visit paid by President Nguyen Phu Trong to the White House this year at the invitation of US President Donald Trump. 

The Vietnamese side has discussed with the US Palace, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the US Congress, the National Business Association, and the National Research Center for the preparations, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc told VnExpress. 

US President Donald Trump said in a farewell at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on February 27 that he expected to welcome Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Oval Office in the White House, Ngoc said.

Trump’s visit to Vietnam and the meetings between the two countries’ top leaders in February would be a favorable premise for the Vietnamese president’s upcoming visit, Ngoc said, noting that Trong’s visit would be one of the major events in the US-Vietnam relations in 2019. 

Holding exchange visits of the two countries’ top leaders would be the ambassador's top priority as the move largely contributes to the improvement of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, especially ahead of the 25th anniversary of the normalization in 2020. 

Ngoc's priority would be put on advanced cooperation in trade and investment on the mutual interest basis. 

Efforts will also made to join hands in solving war legacy namely cleaning up dioxin in Bien Hoa airport and other hotspots, disarming unexploded ordnance, supporting war victims, and searching Vietnamese soldiers missing in the Vietnam War, Ngoc added. 

Trump’ visits to Vietnam 

US President Donald Trump visiting Vietnam twice within 15 months indicated a great stride in the bilateral relations since the normalization in 1995, Ngoc emphasized. 

His first state visit to Vietnam in November 2017 “reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership,” the White House stated. 

Indeed, strengthening the bilateral relations is an important element of a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

In addition, Trump secured new commitments from Vietnam’s leaders to support the global Maximum Pressure Campaign to bring North Korea back to the path of denuclearization. 

President Trump and Vietnamese leaders pledged to deepen and expand bilateral trade and investment relations in line with Trump’s commitment to pursuing fair and reciprocal trade with key trading partners. 

Trump said in a statement during his first visit “Today the Vietnamese economy is one of the fastest-growing on earth… We know it is in America’s interests to have partners throughout this region that are thriving, prosperous, and dependent on no one… We want strong partners, not weak neighbors. And above all, we seek friendship.”

In the second visit which took place on the occasion of the Trump-Kim summit, Trump once again expressed his impressions on Vietnam’s economic growth. 

According to the White House, his remarks in a press conference in Hanoi on February 28 included a statement: “We’re in Hanoi. It’s an incredible city. What’s happened over the last 25 years has been incredible for the people of Vietnam, the job they’ve done — economic development. Really something special.”

Hanoitimes