Washington: With less than 10 days left for the new administration, US Secretary of State John Kerry would leave for a nearly week-long final official visit that would take him to Vietnam, France, Britain and Switzerland.
The top American diplomat would return to Washington on January 18, two days before President-elect Donald Trump would be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.
“On January 13, Kerry will meet in Hanoi, Vietnam with senior Vietnamese officials to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues. Later that day, he will travel to Ho Chi Minh City for meetings with senior officials there. He will also deliver a speech on US-Vietnam relations,” his spokesman John Kirby said.
On January 14, Kerry will travel to Ca Mau province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.
“He will engage local experts on environmental issues affecting the region and ways we can partner with Vietnam to develop clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, smart water governance and ecosystem resource management,” he said.
Kerry will then travel to Paris, on January 15 to attend a conference on Middle East peace hosted by French President Francois Hollande.
In London on January 15, Kerry will meet with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and discuss the situation in Syria and other global and regional issues, Kirby said.
On January 17–18, Kerry will attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The WEF is one of the largest annual gatherings of global leaders in politics, business and civil society. Kerry will be the featured speaker in a discussion on 21st century diplomacy.
PTI