HCM City leaders visit US to strengthen ties A delegation from Ho Chi Minh City, led by Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai, has concluded a visit to the US to bolster cooperation between the city and US localities.                                       During the visit spanning from July 12-17, the delegation had a working session with San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, during which the two sides reviewed the relationship between their localities over the past two decades. A cooperation plan for 2015-2020 was also signed to beef up bilateral collaboration in investment, trade, high technology, culture and education. In the capital city of Sacramento of California, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Tat Thanh Cang and the city’s Vice Mayor Allen Warren discussed a number of issues of shared concern. The two cities also signed a memorandum of understanding on the continued discussion of measures to build upon the friendship and partnership in the future. The delegation paid a courtesy call to California Governor Edmund Brown who expressed his hope that California and Ho Chi Minh City would continue strengthening their multi-faced cooperation, especially in climate change response. For his part, Hai said he is delighted at the growing ties between the two countries, highlighting the cooperation potential between California and Vietnam as well as Ho Chi Minh City in particular. Ho Chi Minh City is keen to promote collaboration with California in its fields of strength, thus contributing to deepening the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the US, said Hai. The Ho Chi Minh City delegation dedicated a large portion of the visit to strengthening cooperation with US partners in education and high technology by calling for investment from top enterprises in Silicon Valley, including Apple, Google, Jabil and Intel and signing a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding with the partners. Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai affirmed the city’s strong commitment to back and create favourable conditions for US investors in the city. As part of efforts to foster education cooperation with the US, Hai and the delegation also visited universities in the US, including the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Davis and Harvard University. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ho Chi Minh City National University and the University of California at Berkeley. The two universities also vowed to continue working closely in strengthening the research capacity of Ho Chi Minh City National University, Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam in general. At the University of California, Hai highlighted areas in need of investment while stressing the city’s interest in coordinating with the university in exchanging lecturers and students. Working with professors in the Harvard Kennedy School of Harvard University, Hai was reported on Ho Chi Minh City’s competitiveness. He invited the professors to visit the city for further studies and discussions on the field. The delegation also visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his stay, Hai and the delegation had a meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in San Francisco, where he affirmed the Party and State’s constant policy of viewing overseas Vietnamese as an inseparable part of the nation. Meeting Vietnamese businesses in the locality, Hai affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City will do its utmost to remove obstacles for them, especially in administrative procedures, and help facilitate their business. VNA