At the working sessions during the ongoing visit to the US, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh showed great pleasure about the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development, thus creating a new driving force and the framework for long-term cooperation between the two countries, and opening up a new period for the Vietnam-US economic, trade and investment cooperation. 

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden highlighted the relations between Vietnam and the US in his speech at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on September 19, just one week after his visit to Vietnam.

Biden said at the talk themed ‘Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all” that no one could imagine that one day an American President would stand in Hanoi alongside a Vietnamese leader and announce a mutual commitment to the highest level of partnership.

This is a testament to the fact that countries can forget the past and turn from former foes into partners, to solve challenges and heal the wounds together.

The speeches by the leaders of the two countries once again showed the special bilateral relationship. International political news commentators commented that this was a historic event which opens a new chapter for the two countries that were once enemies.

The Joint Statement by the leaders of the two countries reflected the seriousness of the Vietnam-US relationship being upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. 

Historical commitments

There is groundbreaking content in the Joint Statement.

A new historic period of bilateral friendship and cooperation with the Vietnam-US relationship upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development has begun. The US supports a strong, independent, prosperous and self-reliant Vietnam.

The US has received Vietnam’s official request on considering and recognizing Vietnam’s economy as a market economy, and it will urgently consider the request based on the laws.

The US has pledged to intensify the support to Vietnam in terms of manufacturing; high-quality physical and digital infrastructure development; equitable energy transition; and sustainable and smart agriculture.

Vietnam and the US decided to promote cooperation in science, technology and innovation in the field of digital development, considering this a new breakthrough in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. 

The US affirmed its commitment to increase its support to Vietnam to prepare a high-tech workforce, and support rapid development of a semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam.

The two sides will actively cooperate to enhance Vietnam's position in the global semiconductor supply chain.

The new chapter in the Vietnam-US relationship is expected to bring the partnership between the two countries to a new high. 

Major development goals

Analysts have commented that the groundbreaking commitments in the Vietnam-US Joint Statement can be seen as paving the way for the two countries’ comprehensive cooperation in the fields of economics, politics, culture, national security and defense to a new level.

However, analysts stressed that turning the commitments into reality would be a thorny process, which requires leaders, businesses and people of the two countries to commit ‘action with both brain and heart’. 

For example, in order to obtain the market economy status recognition from the US government, Vietnam’s economic institutional regime must come in line with market rules.

If the target is obtained, this will allow Vietnam to remove institutional bottlenecks, thus pave the way for businesses to develop. This will also help Vietnamese exports to be equally treated in the world market and help Vietnam attract bigger investments.

In the eyes of US investors, especially hi-tech firms, a stable economic institution, and market economy status are very important factors.

Therefore, after the statement of the two countries on upgrading the relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, investors in the US and developed countries are expecting the new policies to be laid down by the government of Vietnam.

Nguyen Minh Thao from the Central Institute of Economic Management said foreign investors still complained about some barriers in the business environment. This could be a reason why the US just ranks 11th among 108 investors in Vietnam.

Nguyen Huy Vien