Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, Nov. 5 (VNA)-- National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An has called on U.S. congressmen to work for lifting the Jackson-Vanik amendment with limited trade provisions and unreasonal trade protection against Viet Nam.

Viet Nam's chief law-maker was receiving Senator Evan Bayh in charge of trade and international finance under the Senate's Committee for Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in Ha Noi on Nov. 5. He said he expected the U.S. congressmen to do so to boost bilateral ties. He described the on-going court trial against Viet Nam's catfish on charges of dumping prices as unreasonal trade protection that, together with the Jackson-Vanik amendment, as obstates to Viet Nam-U.S. relations.

The N.A Chairman also called on U.S. to provide practical assistance for Viet Nam to heal the wounds of war, first of all in alleviating the plight of dosens of thousands of Agent Orange victims.

Chairman An said Viet Nam itself has done the utmost and will do so to help seek for U.S. servicemen listed as missing in action (MIAs).

He also made clear Viet Nam's external policy to build long-term cooperative ties with the U.S. on the principle of respecting each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference into each other's internal affairs.

The two countries recently enjoyed considerable improvement in bilateral relations, especially in trade. Their two-way trade turnover reached 1.87 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, of which Viet Nam enjoyed huge trade surplus with the export value estimated at 1.6 billion USD, a surge of 90 percent year on year.

"The U.S. has been emerging as an important trade partner of Viet Nam and the trend towards the improvement of bilateral ties is certainly continuing in the years to come when the two countries actively tap their economic potential within the bilateral trade agreement framework as well as for cooperation in other fields," said An.

In turn, Senator Evan Bayh appreciated Viet Nam's cooperation in the MIA issue. He expressed his hope that the two countries' relations would constantly develop, especially in economics and trade.

Bayh is on a visit to Viet Nam together with Executive Director of the Mansfield Centre on the Pacific Issues Gordon Flake and former U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Viet Nam Desaix Anderson.