US State Department bids farewell to Vietnamese ambassador The US Department of State has hosted a farewell ceremony for Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh on the occasion of the end of his term in the US.    Guests to the farewell ceremony for Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh. Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia Patrick Murphy, Chief of Protocol of the State Department Sean Lawler and representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries in Washington joined the event.  Both Murphy and Lawler said during Vinh’s over-three-year tenure, the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership witnessed noted developments across fields, as reflected through high-level visits by the two countries’ leaders.  They cited the visits to the US by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in July 2015 and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in May 2017, and the Vietnam visits by President Barack Obama in May 2016 and President Donald Trump in November 2017.  The bilateral ties in economy, trade, national defence and security, and regional cooperation have also been enhanced, they said.  The officials highlighted the US’s removal of its ban on the sale of lethal weapons to Vietnam, the first-ever visit to Vietnam by a US aircraft carrier in March 2018, the opening of Fulbright University in Vietnam, and projects on cooperation in settling war consequences.  They thanked Ambassador Vinh for his active contributions to the achievements.  For his part, Vinh said he attaches importance to the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership and expressed his hope that the bilateral relationship will continue to prosper in the time ahead.- VNA