10th Anniversary of Normalization

Lao Dong Newspaper

"Bilateral relations have far exceeded expectation: U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine"

April 13, 2005

In late May, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine will participate in the 12th annual U.S. tour for U.S. ambassadors to ASEAN countries. He will join other U.S. ambassador to six ASEAN countries. The tour is organized by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council and will last for 10 days, to six cities in the U.S., for the ambassador to talk about business opportunities in the countries where they work, Ambassador Marine informed reporters at a press roundtable in the afternoon of April 12. He also answered many questions about relations between Vietnam and the U.S. in 2005, the year the two countries celebrate 10 years of normalization of relations.

Vietnam-U.S. relations

Assessing the growth of relations between the two countries in the past 10 years, the U.S. ambassador commented, "I think that in the past 10 years, the relationship has grown much faster and more deeply than my expectation. We have had excellent cooperation in the search and recovery of American MIA's, defense relations, academic, cultural and health exchanges. I will try so that when we celebrate 20 years of relations, we will be astounded by how the relations have grown by then."

At present, there are five city sistership between Vietnamese and U.S. cities. Recently, representatives from Hanoi made a trip to the U.S. to explore possibility to establish a similar city sistership.

Relations between the two countries can be promoted by Vietnamese-Americans and American Vietnam War veterans. "They can play a strong role in promoting understanding about Vietnam in the U.S.," Mr. Marine remarked, "Some people are still cautious about the Vietnamese government's policies, I have shared with them what I know to help them have accurate information."