Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Chairman of the External Relations Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Le Hoai Trung at the Department of State, on December 2, 2024.
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President's chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President's foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon,
everyone. It’s a great pleasure to receive Chairman Trung here at the
State Department to follow on the visits and the tremendous hospitality that I received from
our colleagues in Vietnam over several trips there, including one with President Biden.
I think the strength of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reflects the importance
and value that we both attach to this relationship and to the many things that we’re working to
accomplish together in the Indo-Pacific. And I think you can already see many of the
benefits flowing from the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including stronger cooperation and
work together on everything from semiconductors to supply chain resilience to deeper and broader
educational exchanges, capacity building, cultural exchanges, and of course war legacy issues.
I am very confident that the work we’ve done to build to really a historic level
the partnership between the United States and Vietnam will continue well into the future.
It’s profoundly in the interests of both of our countries. And I’m very pleased that we’ve
been able to work so closely together to build this strong, important foundation that’s in the
interests of the Vietnamese and American people and people throughout the region and the world.
Mr. Chairman, welcome.
CHAIRMAN TRUNG: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary of State, and it is my great
pleasure to visit the State Department and to see you, Mr. Secretary of State. And I agree
with you that we have made important progress in our relations and especially during the visit
of President Joe Biden. The leaders of the two countries, President Biden and General Secretary
Phu Trong, agreed to establish the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. And I am here to make –
to discuss with you and other colleagues and to promote the bilateral relations.
And Vietnam attach – Vietnam attaches great importance to the partnership with the U.S.,
and I agree with you that the partnership has brought about tangible benefits
for the people of our two countries and in the interests of peace and
cooperation and sustainable development in both regions and also in the world.
And next year, the year of 2025, would mark the 30th anniversary of the normalization of
relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, and we have seen rapid, comprehensive progress
in the relations of the two countries. And we hope to see further progress in the relations
between our two countries in the interests of our people and also in the interests of peace,
cooperation, and sustainable development in both regions and the world.
And thank you for seeing me today. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, everyone.
