Washington D.C, (VNA) – VietnameseAmbassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc and US Assistant Secretary of State for theBureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell on January 30co-chaired the launching of activities to celebrate the 25th foundinganniversary of diplomatic relations (1995-2020).

Present at the launching ceremony were 150guests who are leaders from the US Department of State, Department of Defense,Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, Office of the US TradeRepresentative, and the US Congress as well as representatives from theoverseas Vietnamese community, ambassadors and chargé d'affaires of member countriesof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Ngoc said 25 years are not a long time in thehistory of the bilateral relationship, but what Vietnam and the US haveachieved is really impressive. Fromformer enemies, the two countries have become friends and established a comprehensivepartnership in 2013 with robust development in all nine key areas ofcooperation from politics-diplomacy, economy-trade-investment,science-technology, education-training, and settlement of post-war consequencesto defence-security, locality-to-locality relations, and people-to-peopleexchanges, he said.

Leaders of Vietnam and the US have regularlyexchanged visits and pledged to respect each other’s independence, sovereignty,territorial integrity and political regimes, Ngoc said.

Both parties in the US Congress support strongerrelations with Vietnam, he said, adding that the expansion of policy dialogueframeworks has contributed to building mutual trust. 

The bilateral cooperation in economy, trade andinvestment has also seen remarkable strides and become a key area ofcooperation and driving force for the development of bilateral relations, headded.

The Vietnamese ambassador highlighted impressiveachievements in the defence-security  partnership over the past 25 years, especiallyin cooperation to address post-war consequences and improving enforcementcapacity at sea.

Vietnam and the US have collaborated in UNpeacekeeping operations and enhanced coordination in coping with regional andinternational security risks, the diplomat said.

The bilateral cooperation in education, culture,science-technology, and people-to-people exchanges has been expanded to help increasemutual understanding, Ngoc added.

On multilateral aspect, Vietnam and the US sharestrategic benefits in maintaining peace, security, stability, cooperation andrules-based order in Asia-Pacific, including issues relating to the East Sea,Mekong River, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The two sides have also coordinated at ASEANforums, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the United Nations,and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he added.

Meanwhile, Stilwell said Vietnam and the US haveovercome difficult times after the war to become reliable partners based onmutual respect.

The partnership and friendship between Vietnamand the US were built through the joint efforts, hence, the bilateralrelationship in all areas has been continuously improved, he said.

Both officials told the Vietnam News Agency’scorrespondents in the US that they are optimistic about the prospects of theVietnam-US relations in the next decades based on bilateral deep-and-widecooperation and respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, territorialintegrity and political regimes.

With the political determination, long-termvision, and joint efforts, the Vietnam-US partnership will continue to developstrongly and reach new heights, they said.

At the launching ceremony, the Embassy ofVietnam and the US Department of State introduced the symbol of the celebrationof 25-year diplomatic ties, which features pigeon wings bearing the nationalflags of Vietnam and the US./.