Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Viet Nam News, October 6, 2003

HA NOI — Viet Nam is ready to join the US in building a framework for stable, long-term development that would benefit the peoples of both countries, Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien has told US officials.

This would also serve peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, Nien said during a three-day visit to the US that ended on Thursday.

In Washington, Nien talked with Secretary of State Colin Powell and met with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar as well as senators John McCain and Chuck Hagel.

He also visited the Heritage Institute and delivered the opening speech at a seminar titled, "The future of the Viet Nam-US relations."

Nien told his hosts that Viet Nam attached great importance to its relations with the US and wanted to develop bilateral ties on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty and equality, mutual benefit and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

He emphasised that Viet Nam’s foreign policy was based on diversifying its relations with other countries; active international integration; a readiness to befriend the world and becoming a trusted partner of other nations.

He affirmed Viet Nam’s policy of supporting democracy, human rights and religious freedom in conformity with the country’s concrete conditions and the principles of international relations.

US officials expressed satisfaction with the progress in relations between the two countries, particularly in trade and economy one year after the signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement.

US congressmen Nien met, most of them American War veterans, supported Viet Nam’s need for security and development.

They agreed to a regular exchange of information with Viet Nam so as to further promote mutual understanding and friendship with the Vietnamese people.

Reaching accord

Relations between Viet Nam and the US had undergone important political and economic development since the normalisation of relations in July 1995, Nien told a Viet Nam News Agency correspondent in New York.

The signing of several agreements had helped to consolidate the bilateral relationship.

These included a copyright agreement in 1997; an agreement for the protection and promotion of investment, 1999, a sports agreement the same year, and science-technology and trade agreements in 2000.

Two-way trade had totalled US$2.9 billion a year after the Bilateral Trade Agreement was signed in 2001 and was expected to reach $4 billion this year.

But differences about democracy, human rights and religious freedom remained, Nien said.

Trade disputes had also arisen.

The differences and trade disputes were understandable because the US and Viet Nam had different political and social systems while their stage of development was wide apart.

It was important that the two countries build flexible mechanisms on the basis of equality, mutual interest and an understanding of each other’s concerns to settle these differences and disputes.

Friendly tours

Viet Nam Union of Friendship Associations and Viet Nam-US Parliamentary Friendship Group President, Vu Xuan Hong, ended a 12-day working visit to the US on Thursday.

In Washington, Hong and his delegation met with several congressmen including Chuck Hagel, Nebraska; Lane Evans, Illinois, and Alcee L Hastings, Florida.

The delegation also met with scholars, media workers, business people, many non-government organisations and American War veteran organisations in Washington, Maryland and New York. — VNS