Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc and Cindy McCain, the wife of late US Senator John McCain, chair a discussion at a special lunch themed “Vietnam and the United States: Recognising 25 Years of Comprehensive Partnership, Highlighting Future Opportunities and Saluting Senator John McCain”, held on February 11. (Photo: VNA)Washington (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc visited the State of Arizona fromFebruary 10 – 12 as part of activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomaticrelations and pay tribute to late US Senator John McCain, one of the pioneers in normalisation ofbilateral ties.
His visit alsoaimed to beef up cooperation between Vietnam and the US state, particularly inthe areas of economy, trade,investment, education, tourism and people-to-people exchange.
Ngoc attendeda special lunch themed “Vietnam and the United States: Recognising 25 Years of ComprehensivePartnership, Highlighting Future Opportunities and Saluting Senator John McCain”, held by the McCain Institute, the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations(PCFR) and Snell & Wilmer on February 11.
The event sawthe presence of over 200 guests, including administration and business representatives from Arizona andPhoenix.
During the event,the Vietnamese diplomat briefed the attendees on major milestones in theimprovement of the Vietnam – US relations over the past 25 years, and how they had turned from foes to friends and become comprehensive partners in 2013.
He alsorecalled the strategic vision and bravery of John McCain, the former senator forArizona, who took the lead in healing the wounds ofwar and campaigning for the normalisation of the nations’ ties.
He spokehighly of what the late US senator had done to promote Vietnam – US cooperationin addressing the aftermath of war and fostering bilateral ties in economy, trade and people-to-people exchange, as well as coordinating on global and regional issues, notably the East Sea.
On the basisof a comprehensive partnership, Vietnam and the US have huge potential to liftbilateral relations to a new height, he said.
Together with Cindy McCain,the wife of late Senator JohnMcCain, Ngoc chaired a discussion during which attendees expressed an interest in learning more about Vietnam – US relations in politics, economy, security and defence, education, andhealth care;the situation in Asia-Pacific; and Vietnam’s roles as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Councilfor 2020 – 2021.
Ambassador HaKim Ngoc had meetings with Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego and congressmen fromthe Arizona State Legislature in which both sides said they expected to see Vietnam and Arizona tocontinue exploring opportunities for bilateral trade and investment in sectorssuch as education, technology, health care, tourism and agriculture.
Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc in a meeting with congressmen from the Arizona State Legislature. (Photo: VNA)US congressmenNoel Campbell, who served in the US war in Vietnam, said he wants to contributemore to the two countries’relations and suggested the opening of a Phoenix trade representative office in Vietnam.
As part of hisvisit, Ngoc also met with leaders of the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and visited the University ofArizona to discuss a possiblepartnership in primary education, higher education, healthcare, smart city development and Mekong region cooperation./.
VNA
