Promoting administrative reform associated with digital transformation in the diplomatic sectorOn March 26, 2024, in Washington DC, within the framework of an official visit to the United States and co-chairing the first Vietnam - US Foreign Ministers' Dialogue, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son attended and spoke at a seminar on Vietnam - US relations at the Brookings Institution, met with advisors and assistants of several key committees of the US Congress, received Vice President of Arizona State University Jeffrey Goss and met online with Vice President of NVIDIA Corporation Keith Strier.

At the Brookings Institution, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son delivered an important speech and answered many questions from the audience. The event was attended by Dr. Susanne Maloney, Vice President of the Brookings Institution, representatives of the Government, Congress, Diplomatic Corps, research institutes, universities, and about 500 delegates including experts, scholars, the business community and a number of press agencies in the United States attending in person and online.

In his speech, Minister Bui Thanh Son said that although the world is undergoing many profound and unpredictable changes, the Asia-Pacific-Indian Ocean region continues to be a dynamically developing region, a growth engine of the world economy. Besides these bright spots, the region also has many potential security challenges, both traditional and non-traditional.

The Minister affirmed that in that context, Vietnam consistently implements a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations; proactively and actively integrates comprehensively and extensively into the international community; is a friend, a reliable partner and an active, responsible member of the international community. In particular, the Minister emphasized that Vietnam continues the Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy school of "firm roots, strong trunk, flexible branches" to respond to challenges and maintain a favorable foreign environment for national development. This is most clearly demonstrated by the fact that up to now, Vietnam has had Strategic Partnership and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership relations with all 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that in order to achieve the 2030 and 2045 development goals set by the 13th National Party Congress, in addition to efforts, proactiveness, self-reliance, and self-reliance, Vietnam needs a peaceful and stable foreign environment and active cooperation and support from important partners, including the United States. In that spirit, the Minister affirmed that Vietnam always considers the United States one of Vietnam's most important partners. The two countries have achieved many important results in bilateral relations since the normalization of relations in 1995, especially the historic visit of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the United States in 2015 and the visit of US President Joe Biden to Vietnam in 2023, upgrading Vietnam-US relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

In the coming time, to further deepen the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Minister said that the two countries need to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, promote political trust, especially respect for each other's political institutions; continue to consider economic - trade - investment cooperation as the focus; promote cooperation in science, technology and innovation including the semiconductor ecosystem; strengthen people-to-people exchange, educational and cultural cooperation and coordinate more closely at multilateral forums and cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN, the United Nations, APEC, the Mekong - US Partnership, etc.

Answering questions from some guests, the Minister said that despite the changing situation, Vietnam will continue to be consistent with the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress, which attaches importance to relations with major countries; expressing Vietnam's wish for major countries to have stable and healthy relations and to cooperate in responding to common challenges such as climate change and food security. The Minister affirmed that Vietnam will continue to improve the business environment, creating favorable conditions for foreign enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam.

*Receiving advisors and assistants of the US Congress, Minister Bui Thanh Son expressed his gratitude to bipartisan congressmen who support Vietnam and the Vietnam-US relationship, notably Senators John McCain, John Kerry, and Patrick Leahy. The Minister asked the US Congress to continue to support and assist bilateral cooperation in various fields, including overcoming the consequences of war, economy - trade, education - training, science - technology, security - defense, people-to-people exchange, etc. The Minister highly appreciated the cooperation between the two countries' National Assemblies in recent times and suggested that the two sides coordinate to strengthen relations between agencies of the two National Assemblies, contributing to the implementation of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The US Congressional advisors and assistants thanked Minister Bui Thanh Son for informing them about the situation in all aspects and Vietnam's foreign policy; highly appreciated Vietnam's constant attention to creating a favorable environment for US businesses to invest and do business in Vietnam, Vietnam's efforts in implementing international commitments on climate change response, especially in the Mekong Delta region, ensuring human rights... The US Congressional advisors and assistants affirmed the support of the two political parties in the US Congress for the bilateral relationship and affirmed to continue to cooperate with Vietnam to contribute to promoting the Vietnam - US relationship to develop more strongly, in all fields in the spirit of the new relationship framework as well as regional and international issues.

*At the meeting with Vice President of the University of Arizona Jeffrey Goss, Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that cooperation in science, technology and innovation in the digital field is a new breakthrough in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Minister welcomed the cooperation between the University of Arizona and the National Innovation Center and other Vietnamese partners in training human resources in the semiconductor industry, and suggested that the University of Arizona continue to contribute to the successful building of a semiconductor ecosystem.

Vice President of the University of Arizona Jeffrey Goss shared that the University of Arizona has a long history of training cooperation with Vietnamese university partners. Mr. Jeffrey Goss affirmed that the University of Arizona will actively cooperate with Vietnam in areas of strength, including cooperation in developing the semiconductor industry, and will continue to be a partner of Vietnamese agencies, businesses and training institutions in this field.

*At an online meeting with NVIDIA Vice President Keith Strier, Minister Bui Thanh Son conveyed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's regards to NVIDIA leaders, affirming that cooperation in the field of AI and semiconductor technology is a breakthrough within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Vietnam has developed a National AI Strategy and will soon issue a Strategy for Semiconductor Industry Development to 2030 and a Project for Human Resources Development in the Semiconductor Industry to 2030, with a vision to 2045; hoping that the US business community, especially leading technology companies such as NDIVIA, will allocate resources and promote partnerships with Vietnam.

Vice President Keith Strier expressed his strong impression of Vietnam's determination in developing the high-tech, AI and semiconductor industries. Along with the commitments of CEO Jensen Huang, the two sides will actively cooperate to turn Vietnam into "NDIVIA's second home", especially in terms of technology and training of high-quality human resources. Mr. Keith Strier also affirmed that NVIDIA will promote the early implementation of specific cooperation plans with Vietnam that the two sides have built./.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Portal

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