The freshly-ended trip to the US by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the United Nations Summit of the Future, the High-level General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s 79th session and working sessions was a success, achieving all set goals and tasks with nearly 50 bilateral and multilateral activities.
Talking with the press, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son highlighted the strategic importance of the trip which took place one year after Vietnam and the US officially upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and ahead of the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.
This was Lam's first multilateral diplomatic trip, where he delivered keynote speeches at the UNGA, conveying a strong and clear message that affirmed Vietnam's foreign policy direction set by the 13th National Party Congress. His speeches underscored Vietnam's commitment to multilateralism, international law and the UN Charter, while sharing insights and collaborating with other nations to address global challenges.
Son stressed that Vietnam continued to show its image of a peaceful, stable, friendly, dynamic, innovative, trustworthy, and responsible member of the international community, a country with strong socio-economic development and its desire to contribute to the common affairs for global peace, cooperation and development. These further cemented the country’s growing role, position, and reputation on the global stage, he said.
During the trip, Lam engaged in dozens of meetings with leaders of other nations and international organisations. Partners expressed their respect for Vietnam's growing position, role and influence, agreeing to enhance comprehensive cooperation in traditional areas while expanding into new fields such as innovation, green technology, and digital technology.
Through 27 meetings with incumbent and former officials of the US Government and Congress, business communities, friends, experts, scholars, students, and the Vietnamese community, as well as policy speeches at the Columbia University, the Vietnamese leader urged the US to uphold its commitments to Vietnam's key priorities, including the market economy issue and breakthroughs in emerging areas like AI, semiconductors, quality human resource training, cybersecurity, and post-war recovery efforts.
A highlight of the trip was talks between US President Joe Biden and Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, which Son said, reflected the US's genuine respect for Vietnam’s political system, the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and its desire to further strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Numerous agreements and memoranda of understanding were also reached between partners and businesses, particularly in quality workforce training, hi-tech, and clean energy, according to the official.
Asked about priorities to translate the outcomes of the trip into action, Son stressed the need for Vietnam's proactive, active, responsible, creative, and effective engagement in the UN’s activities and multilateral forums.
To foster strategic and mutually beneficial cooperation with the US, he suggested continuing to enhance political trust through exchanges and visits via various channels and at all levels, especially at the high level.
Economic, trade, and investment collaboration, a core area and driving force of the bilateral ties, should also be a priority for businesses of both countries to thrive.
Sci-tech cooperation, a breakthrough area of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, should be lifted to a new height, with a focus on the fields of semiconductor, artificial intelligence, green transition, and quality workforce training.
Regarding national defence-security, he proposed effectively realising existing agreements, with the settlement of war aftermaths as a top priority, including dioxin decontamination, clearing landmines in hotspot areas, supporting those with disabilities while locating, recovering and identifying the remains of Vietnamese soldiers. Vietnam will also continue to fully cooperate with the US in the search for its servicemen missing in action during the war.
Another proposal is to increase coordination and contribute more to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, upholding ASEAN's central role and ASEAN-US Comprehensive strategic partnership, as well as the Mekong-US Partnership. Additionally, he suggested improving the effectiveness of joint work to tackle non-traditional security challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, and water security.
The official concluded by underlining the importance of dialogues, sharing and mutual support to narrow differences.
