The agreement was initiated on October 7, after two days of negotiations in Hanoi between a Vietnamese delegation, led by Lai Xuan Thanh, the Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, and a US delegation led by the State Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs that included officials from the US Department of Transportation and Commerce.

The agreement will strengthen and expand already strong trade and tourism links with Vietnam, and provide benefits to American and Vietnamese cargo carriers and to shippers, while preserving commitments to aviation safety and security.

Vietnamese and US cargo carriers will enjoy the benefits of liberalisation on the basis of reciprocity, pending the formal signing of the agreement. The two sides agreed to meet within two years to discuss further liberalisation of air services.

The United States has previously reached Open Skies agreements with 93 partners and this agreement is built upon the 2003 Air Transport Agreement.