US President Donald Trump’s participation in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and his State visit to Viet Nam reflects the US’s interest in the partnership with the country in particular and cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region in general, according to Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son.

US President Donald Trump receives Prime Minister of Viet Nam Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his visit to the US mid-2017.  - VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

This is the first visit to Viet Nam by President Trump, which takes place in the first year of his term, Mr Son, who is APEC 2017 SOM Chair, told reporters at a press conference on the APEC Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting in Da Nang on Tuesday.

Viet Nam and the US officially set up their comprehensive partnership in 2013, and the bilateral relationship is now developing intensively in various aspects, he said, expressing his belief that the upcoming visit by President Trump will provide an opportunity for the 2 countries to further deepen ties in line with the common trend in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US president will attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang on Saturday, and then pay a State visit to Viet Nam on Saturday and Sunday at the invitation of President Tran Dai Quang.  He will leave for the Phillipines on Sunday.

Viet Nam and the US normalised their relationship in 1995.

Positive strides have been recorded in bilateral relations in all spheres since the countries established a comprehensive partnership in July 2013 on the basis of respecting each other’s territorial integrity, political regime and development path, for their own interests and for regional peace, stability and development co-operation.

Over the past years, the US has become one of the leading trade partners of Viet Nam. Bilateral trade has continually grown by about 20% each year, with two-way trade reaching 52.3 billion USD in 2016.

Despite a trade deficit with Viet Nam, the US has enjoyed a rapid export growth rate of 77% annually, four times higher than the growth of Viet Nam’s shipments to the US.

Total US investment in Viet Nam has surpassed 10 billion USD to date.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)