Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung, who was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, has begun his term in the US succeeding his predecessor Ha Kim Ngoc.

Ambassador of Vietnam to the US Nguyen Quoc Dung. Photos: VNA

Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung is the 7th Vietnamese Ambassador to the US with the term starting in February 2022. He will soon present his credentials to US President Joe Biden.

Dung served as Deputy Foreign Minister and head of ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Vietnam for many years.

Born in 1964 in Hanoi, Dung has more than 30 years of diplomatic career, with extensive experience in international integration, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, international economic research, and foreign policy.

On Feb 22, the ambassador sent his start-of-term message to the American partners, friends, and people.

In the greeting message, he said “time tested our bilateral relations, which overcome challenges and differences to reach a comprehensive level now with cooperation expanded to all spheres.”

Dung said he’s confident with the active efforts from both sides, the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership will grow in depth and in breadth serving as building blocks for both to either intensify mutually beneficial cooperation or reach further beyond to a new height.

For the time ahead, Dung affirmed he will work to maintain sustainable trade and economic links that remain the cornerstone of the relations.

According to the ambassador, the priority will be cooperation in the war legacy relief and multilateral forums to address regional and international issues within the framework of the ASEAN-US Strategic Partnership, the US-Mekong Partnership.

He stressed the importance of the 2.2-million Vietnamese-American community in the US, saying that they made important contributions to the bilateral relations. Dung highly appreciated the warm sentiment of the overseas Vietnamese community towards their homeland and their valuable support to fellow countrymen, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic. He hoped to get assistance from the community during this ambassadorial tenure.

In the latest move, on Feb 23 Dung met Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi to discuss the importance of the Vietnam-US trade relationship and their work to build an Indo-Pacific economic framework.

Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung and his wife Tran Thi Bich Van.