A ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the normalization of trade ties between Vietnam and the US was organized at the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States on Tuesday.

>> US consulate to hold HCMC education exhibition next week Twenty years ago, on February 3, 1994, the then US President Bill Clinton announced the lifting of a trade embargo against Vietnam, ushering in a new chapter of the Vietnam-US relationship, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong said, quoting from President Truong Tan Sang’s recent letter to ex-President Clinton. The ambassador stressed that the decision, which marked a turning point in the bilateral relations, has since benefited both countries and peoples.

In July 2013, Vietnam and the US established a bilateral comprehensive partnership, further boosting the cooperation between the two nations, Cuong said.

Last year the two-way trade amounted to US$30 billion, 130 times higher than in 1994. Vigorous trade ties between the two sides have resulted in an annual trade growth of 20 percent.

With total direct investment of $11 billion in Vietnam, the US is ranked 7th among foreign investors in the country. Meanwhile, Vietnam is now one of the 29 leading partners of the US. Speaking at the ceremony, Secretary of State John Kerry said he figured out during his visit to Vietnam last July that the country has great potential to develop multifaceted ties with the US. Meanwhile, US Senator McCain said he was impressed with the fast growth of the Vietnam-US links over the past 20 years. He also noted that more than 16,000 Vietnamese students are pursuing higher education in the US. On the occasion, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent congratulatory messages conveying their wishes for deeper and stronger development in the Vietnam-US relationship.