Visiting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink congratulated Vietnam on its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2023 – 2025 tenure, at a meeting with Vietnamese journalists in Hanoi on October 12.

He said he hopes that Vietnam, as an important UNHRC member, will partner with the US to promote universal human rights and address related challenges facing the world.

The official also highlighted the Vietnam-US relations, saying many major milestones have been achieved particularly after the two countries established the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013. They will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Partnership next year.

The Vietnam-US relations are stronger than ever, he affirmed, adding Vietnam plays a central role in the US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the US will work to strengthen capacity of like-minded allies, partners and friends like Vietnam.

Also present at the meeting, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper said Vietnam has seen significant progress in improving people’s living standards, especially in terms of health care, climate change response and infrastructure over the last 15 years.

Health care has become a critical pillar of the bilateral cooperation, he said, noting that the US has so far provided Vietnam with around 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and tonnes of medical supplies to fight the pandemic.

The official highly spoke of infrastructure development in Vietnam, saying the Southeast Asian country has focused on developing highways. Recalling his time in Vietnam 15 years ago when it took four hours to travel from Hanoi to the coastal resort city of Ha Long, he said now it takes only two hours thanks to a six-lane expressway.

Such investment opens the way to hard-to-reach areas in the north and Central Highlands, he stated, adding that this has a very good impact on people’s lives and livelihoods./.