Although a good part of Americans, especially elder Americans, know of Viet Nam through the long and bloody war, the best motto that describes the country is: “Viet Nam is a country, not a war”. Coined by a senior Vietnamese diplomat well before the normalization of relations between Viet Nam and the U.S., the well-known phrase has been increasingly reflecting the true image of Viet Nam in the U.S. nowadays. Viet Nam and the U.S. established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1995. In August 1995, both countries upgraded their Liaison Offices opened in January 1995 to Embassy status. The two countries then exchanged Ambassadors in May 1997, opening up a new chapter in their relationship.

1- Political & Security Relations:

Although a good part of Americans, especially elder Americans, know of Viet Nam through the long and bloody war, the best motto that describes the country is: “Viet Nam is a country, not a war”. Coined by a senior Vietnamese diplomat well before the normalization of relations between Viet Nam and the U.S., the well-known phrase has been increasingly reflecting the true image of Viet Nam in the U.S. nowadays. Viet Nam and the U.S. established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1995. In August 1995, both countries upgraded their Liaison Offices opened in January 1995 to Embassy status. The two countries then exchanged Ambassadors in May 1997, opening up a new chapter in their relationship.

Over the past 16 years since normalization, the Viet Nam-U.S. relations have witnessed significant developments. The most prominent example of these is the frequent exchange of visits by leaders of the two countries, namely President Bill Clinton's visit to Viet Nam in November 2000, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to the U.S. in June 2005, President George W. Bush's visit to Viet Nam in November 2006 and the visit to the U.S. by President Nguyen Minh Triet in June 2007. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also visited the U.S. twice, the first in June 2008 and the second in April 2010 when he attended the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama. In addition to these official visits, the two countries’ leaders have frequently met on the sidelines of many multilateral events such as APEC, G-20 and US-ASEAN Summits.

During the aforementioned high-level visits, three Joint Statements were signed in 2005, 2007 and 2008, demonstrating the political will of both Viet Nam and the U.S. to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level. In effect, the two countries also have established a number of mechanisms in the economic, political and security fields with the aim of furthering bilateral cooperation. In the two yeas 2008 and 2009 when Viet Nam served as a  non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Viet Nam and the U.S. cooperated and coordinated with each other for the common goal of preserving international peace and security. A mechanism of strategic dialogue has been established between Viet Nam and the U.S. on political, security and foreign affairs. With regard to the human rights issue, differences existing as a matter of fact, particularly in their approaches to human rights and religious freedom, both sides have maintained straight-forward and constructive dialogues on an annual basis with a view to improving mutual understanding. Sixteen rounds of such dialogues have been organized as of 2011.

Defense and security cooperation between the two countries are also making steady headway with increasing exchanges and visits by delegations, including those headed by Vietnamese Minister of National Defense and U.S Secretary of Defense. Viet Nam and the U.S. have actively engaged in a wide range of cooperative activities in the areas of searching for MIAs, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, search and rescue, maritime and border security, law enforcement, and non-proliferation. The two sides have also upgraded defense talks to the vice-ministerial level.

The Viet Nam-U.S. relations have not been confined in the bilateral framework. The Obama Administration has been implementing a foreign policy that attaches great importance to Asia-Pacific in general and Southeast Asia in particular.  As an active member with an increasingly prominent role in ASEAN, Viet Nam has been making important contributions to the deepening of ties between the U.S. and ASEAN. The two countries expanded their cooperation substantially when Viet Nam assumed Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2010. Together with the two countries’ membership in APEC and expected membership in the Trans-Pacific partnership, both are working together not only to promote bilateral relations to best serve the common interests of their peoples but also to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

2- Trade & Investment Relations:

With the conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement in July 2000, the signing of bilateral agreement on Viet Nam's accession to the World Trade Organization in May 2006, and the establishment of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) in 2006, Viet Nam-U.S. commercial ties have expanded at an amazing space. The two-way trade volume reached US$ 18.3 billion in 2010, representing a 19% increase as compared to 2009 and nearly 40 times of the figure in 1995. Viet Nam’s imports from the U.S. have enjoyed a 20% annual increase. In 2010, Viet Nam was chosen by the Obama Administration as one of five emerging markets to double U.S. exports by 2015.

In the field of investment, the U.S. has been a leading foreign direct investor in Viet Nam with a total FDI amount of nearly US$ 15 billion by the end of 2009. Viet Nam’s FDI in the U.S. totaled US$ 6 million in 2008, 500% up from the 2007 level. The U.S. and Viet Nam concluded a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 2007 and since then have held six formal meetings to review Viet Nam's implementation of its WTO commitments and consider additional initiatives to further enhance trade and investment opportunities between the two countries. Regular informal meetings have also been held to address issues on their trade agenda. Viet Nam and the U.S. are partners in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Viet Nam announced in November 2010 that it would participate as a full member in the TPP negotiations after having participated in three rounds as an associate member while it was finalizing its domestic process.

3- Cooperation in Education

In 1995, there were fewer than 800 Vietnamese studying in the U.S. Today this figure is more than 13,000. The Fulbright Foundation has provided funds for 950 Vietnamese and American students and scholars to study, research, and teach in each other’s country in many academic fields. The Viet Nam Education Foundation has placed 306 fellows at 70 top U.S. graduate institutions.  Viet Nam and the U.S. are working on a plan to build an American University in Viet Nam.

As H.E. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, the new Ambassador of Viet Nam to the United States, recently put it, “the relationship between Viet Nam and the U.S. has been improving in a way that nobody could imagine just a few years ago, not to say 16 years back when the two countries normalized diplomatic relations”. With Viet Nam integrating more and more into the region and the world economy thanks to its successful Doi Moi (Renewal), with Viet Nam and the U.S. better recognizing one another’s important role, and with Viet Nam-U.S. bilateral ties witnessing significant progress with every passing day, Viet Nam and the U.S. are working towards the establishment of a strategic partnership, which will make a worthy contribution to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the world at large.