Politburo member and Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Thiện Nhân (right) meets former US President Barack Obama in HCM City on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Khu

HCM CITY — Politburo member and Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Thiện Nhân hosted a reception for visiting former US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the host said Obama’s visit shows his continued care for Việt Nam-US relations, as well as the Southeast Asian nation’s development.
The HCM City leader appreciated Obama's contributions to bilateral ties when he was US President, especially in the period when the two countries established a comprehensive partnership in 2013.
Nhân said he hopes that Obama will continue to promote bilateral relations, especially in the context that Việt Nam and the US are preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the normalisation of bilateral ties in 2020.
While praising the contributions made by Obama and his wife Michelle to education development, especially for girls, the municipal leader expressed his wish that through the Obama Foundation, more development assistance projects will be implemented in Vietnamese localities in the future.
For his part, Obama said he was delighted to see that Việt Nam and the US are still discussing a cooperation framework for trade promotion.
He highly valued HCM City’s policies and development achievements, expressing his belief that priorities in education, innovation, transport development, and climate change adaptation will help promote the city’s sustainable development.
The former US President promised to continue contributing to bilateral relations and the relationship between HCM City and the US in particular, affirming that he is willing to serve as a bridge connecting US firms and their Vietnamese counterparts, thus increasing the number of US investors in Việt Nam and HCM City in particular.
The couple are on a visit to Việt Nam from December 8-11 as part of their trip to Asian nations, which aims to introduce Global Girls – a programme to promote universal education, especially educational support for girls and working-class women. — VNS