The visit comes as trade and investment ties between the two nations are growing and a long-simmering territorial dispute between Vietnam and China heats up in the South China Sea.
Vietnam has named four other countries "comprehensive strategic partners," the designation expected for the U.S.: China, Russia, India and South Korea.
Biden's visit comes nearly 50 years after the end of the deeply unpopular Vietnam War between the Soviet-backed Communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam’s U.S.-backed regime.
"For decades, the US and Vietnam have worked to overcome a painful shared legacy of the Vietnam War, working hand in hand to promote reconciliation, with our service members and our veterans lighting the way," he said.
Washington has been pushing to elevate ties with Hanoi to a "strategic" partnership from one that for the past decade has been called "comprehensive."
Persons:
Joe Biden, Evelyn Hockstein, Biden, Nguyen Phu Trong, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Nandita Bose, Khanh Vu, Francesco Guarascio, Heather Timmons, Chizu
Organizations:
Global Infrastructure, REUTERS, Sunday, Communist Party General, Party, U.S ., Google, Intel, Marvell, Boeing, U.S, Communist, Thomson
Locations:
New Delhi, India, DELHI, HANOI, United, China, Asia, Vietnam, South China, Russia, South Korea, Hanoi, U.S, Soviet, North Vietnam, South Vietnam’s U.S, Pacific, US, Washington, Czech Republic