Washington DC (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador tothe US Pham Quang Vinh has recently paid a working visit to Hawaii to meetlocal leaders for the strengthened Vietnam – US ties.

During his visit from September 27 to 29, Ambassador Vinh met with HawaiiGovernor David Ige, who lauded cooperation potential between his state andVietnamese localities, particularly in economics, trade, education, renewableenergy, and climate change adaptation.

Ige said the Vietnamese community accounts for about 3 percentof Hawaii’s population and has contributed significantly to the development ofthe local economy and to Vietnam – US relations.

Vinh, for his part, noted highlights of bilateralrelations, including a visit to the US by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last May, during which a joint statement on enhancement of the two countries’ comprehensivepartnership was released.

Vietnam is working with APEC economies, including the US, tohost the APEC Year 2017, the diplomat said.

He recommended his host boosting engagements between Hawaiiand Vietnamese localities in trade and education and invited the governor tovisit Vietnam.

Ige said he is looking forward to visiting Vietnam soon.

While in Hawaii, Ambassador Vinh visited the United StatesPacific Command (PACOM) and held separated meetings with US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet Admiral Scott Swift, and Commander of PACOM25th Infantry Division Charles Flynn.

At the meetings, the diplomat spoke highly of the development of bilateral defence-security collaboration, with expectation that both sidescontinue commitments in their memorandum of understanding on defencecooperation signed in 2011 and the 2015 joint vision on defence relations.

Delegation exchanges, personnel training, dialogueconsulting, as well as bilateral engagements in search and rescue missions, UNpeacekeeping activities and overcoming of war consequences are among prioritisedsubjects, Vinh noted.

Agreeing with his guest, Admiral Harris stated the US wantsto boost cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, particularly ASEAN memberstates, for peace, development as well as for ensuring safety and freedom of navigation and  overflight and the peaceful settlement of disputes in line withinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of theSea (UNCLOS).

The Vietnamese Ambassador also visited the military patrolvessel CSB 8020 operated by the Vietnamese coast guard, which was being docked inHawaii. The US Coast Guard transferred the boat to the Vietnam Coast Guard lastMay in a bid to help increase the body’s capacity in performing maritime lawenforcement and search and rescue operations. -VNA