Vietnamese Ambassador Le Cong Phung focused his lecture on relations between Vietnam and the US, which, he said, has made a huge leap forward in recent times.

Political relations had also witnessed unprecedented progress with four high-level visits taking place in four consecutive years. Two-way trade revenues multiplied from US$1.5 billion in 2001 when the Bilateral Trade Agreement took effect, to over US$15 billion in 2008. US businesses have invested US$4.2 billion in 428 projects in Vietnam, ranking 12^th among the country's foreign investors.

The Vietnamese diplomat expressed hopes that the world’s largest economy would soon become the biggest investor in the Southeast Asian nation and bilateral trade revenues could surge to US$30 billion.