HCM City (VNA) – Prospects for cooperation in economics and education between Vietnam and the US following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement were highlighted at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on Ja﷽nuary 14.

Speaking at the event, Le Quang Long, deputy head of the municipal Department of External Affairs, said the past 20 years witnessed long strides in bilateral ties between Vietnam and the US. The two sides’ issuance of a statement on a joint vision during Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to the US in July 2015 demonstrates their resolve to deepen the bilateral relations in a sustainable and pragmatic fashion. It will be based on respecting international law and political institutions and the independence and sovereignty of each country - for the interests of their people, and for peace and stability, and the cooperation and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large, he said. Long stressed that the conclusion of the TPP negotiations and to-be-established Fullbright University in HCM City will offer huge opportunities for a Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership, especially in the fields of trade, investment and education. HCM City is proud to lay the first bricks for the normalisation of relations between the two countries through the formation of the US Business Association in March 1994, the design of the Fullbright Economics Teaching Programme in October 1994 and the establishment of the friendship between HCM City and San Francisco in April 1995, the official said. Such joint projects have proven effective and been seen as models of cooperation between the two countries, Long said, promised that HCM City, as Vietnam’s special urban economic centre, will further promote the collaboration. Lauding Vietnamese youth’s dynamism and smartness, US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius noted his hope that with the background of the 20-year relationship and the birth of the TPP, the bilateral ties will be consolidated in all areas, particularly in economics and education. He commented on the fact that more and more US businesses have come to Vietnam to study investment opportunities in the country, and that the US has become one of Vietnam’s leading importers. According to the diplomat, as many as 19,000 Vietnamese students studied at US universities in 2015, the largest number compared with other Southeast Asian nations. He pledged to make more contributions to the prosperity of Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, in such realms as disease prevention, climate change response, education, economics and international security protection and East Sea issue. The TPP will help Vietnam expand cooperation and deepen its relations with leading partners in the region and the world as well, especially the US, the ambassador said. He urged young Vietnamese to take the initiative in learning from economic management methods from around the world - and the US in particular. Delegates at the workshop also analysed achievements, experience and efforts made by Vietnam and the US in developing their relationship over the past two decades. They further proposed solutions to boost the bilateral ties in the years ahead to meet the aspirations of the two countries’ leaders and people. The event was jointly held by Vietnam’s Centre for Strategic Studies and International Development, and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies of the United States.-VNA