Vietnam wants to deepen relations with U.S.: PM

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said here on Monday that Vietnam wants to deepen cooperative relations with the United States in a constructive and friendly spirit and on the basis of mutual respect for common benefits and development of the two countries, the government website reported.

Dung made the remarks when meeting with the visiting Chairman of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Lester Crown on Monday.

At the meeting, Dung said the visit would contribute to promote the cooperative relations between Vietnam and Chicago particularly and between Vietnam and the United States generally.

The Vietnamese prime minister said the Vietnam-U.S. relations in the past 15 years have witnessed fine development in various areas such as economy, culture, education and defense.

To boost relations between the two countries in the coming time, Dung expressed his desire that the United States would not set up trade barriers to several kinds of Vietnamese products exported to the U.S. market such as basa fish and garment and textile.

The prime minister would like to see a stronger cooperation from the United States in disarming landmines and giving aid to the Agent Orange victims as part of the efforts to deal with the consequences of the Vietnam-U.S. war, said the report.

Vietnam hoped to receive support from the United States in the country’s response to climate change and rising sea level, said Dung.

Chairman of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Lester Crown said he appreciated the fast and strong development of Vietnamese economy.

Vietnam is always an attractive destination for the U.S. companies and Vietnam’s investment policy has created favorable conditions for the successful business of U.S. companies in Vietnam, said Crown.

Crown expressed his desire that Vietnam would create more favorable conditions for Chicago’s companies in particular and the U.S. companies in general to come to Vietnam and build an effective and long-term business here.

In 2009, bilateral trade between Vietnam and the United States reached 15 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 10 times compared to the figure of 2001. The United States is currently one of the biggest investors of Vietnam. It poured an investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars in the country last year, according to the report.

Tags: Vietnam US cooperation