Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

The conversation was conducted at the request of the U.S. side, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Trump highly valued Vietnam's Covid-19 response and expressed his appreciation of Vietnam’s facilitation of the supply and transportation of medical supplies to America and its donations of face masks to American frontline workers.

The two countries should continue working together in the fight against Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, he said.

Phuc updated Trump on Vietnam's Covid-19 prevention and control effort and expressed his sympathies over the losses and difficulties that the Americans are facing due to the disease.

However, he said he believes that under the leadership of President Trump, the U.S. will be able to put the disease under control and reopen its economy soon.

Phuc hailed the bilateral cooperation between the two nations in combating Covid-19, and thanked the U.S. President for offering to present ventilators to Vietnam and providing financial support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including nearly US$10 million for Vietnam to improve health care capacity and rehabilitate the economy.

Both sides agreed to step up bilateral economic and trade ties and open up their markets for their goods in the time to come.

Two-way trade between the countries continued to expand in the first quarter of 2020, with U.S. exports to Vietnam growing 17% over the same period last year.

The two leaders also exchanged views on how to deepen the bilateral comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and America, especially on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Trump affirmed that the U.S. attaches importance to the comprehensive partnership with Vietnam, and said that the Vietnam-U.S. relationship has strongly grown over the past 25 years.

On March 26 and April 28, the two leaders exchanged letters on Covid-19.

On the same day, at the request of the U.S. side, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The two sides agreed that Vietnam-U.S. relations have continued expanding in various aspects, especially economy and trade.

They also agreed to work together to organize cooperation activities on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2020, thus deepening the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership.

Pompeo hailed Vietnam’s role in responding to common challenges, and agreed to boost coordination to promote ties between ASEAN and the U.S. while Vietnam is serving as the ASEAN 2020 Chair and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.SGT