Socialist Republic of Vietnam

(VNA) The recent strong development of Vietnam-US relations on bilateral and multilateral scale will create an important foundation to lift bilateral ties to a new height, said President Truong Tan Sang.

President Sang made the statement on November 11 while meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after he arrived in Honolulu, the venue for the 19th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week.

The President said Vietnam always attaches importance to relations with the US as a leading strategic partner and praised Hillary Clinton’s contributions to the development of Vietnam-US relations.

For her part, Secretary of State Clinton affirmed the US continues to attach importance and wants to further bolster multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, including bringing the two countries’ relationship towards the strategic partnership.

She said the US will continue its cooperation with concerned parties to contribute to maritime freedom and safety, support the peaceful settlement of sovereignty disputes in the East Sea on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC), opposes the use of force, supports countries that have rights to exploit resources within their economic exclusive zone and welcomes efforts to establish the Code of Conduct (COC) of Parties in the East Sea.

Sang welcomed stronger cooperation between the US and Asia-Pacific for peace, stability and development in the region.

Sang expressed his belief that the APEC Week will make important contributions to promoting cooperation, connectivity and economic recovery in the region and raise APEC’s prestige.

The Vietnamese delegation will actively make contributions to the success of the event, he said.

The same day, President Sang also met with Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie, who welcomed President Sang to the 19th APEC Leaders’ Week.

The governor said he wishes to bolster multifaceted cooperation between the US state and Vietnam, especially in tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

President Sang said he hoped Vietnam and Hawaii will bring into play their potential and strengths in cooperation to raise two-way trade and promote cooperation in tourism, education and training, with Hawaii set to help Vietnam train hotel staff for tourism development.

At a meeting with leaders of the US businesses, Sang affirmed Vietnam’s efforts in improving investment and business environments, and creating favourable conditions for foreign businesses to operate in Vietnam, including those from the US.

The State leader asked businesses to request the US government to promptly recognise Vietnam as a market economy and grant it the generalised system of preferences.

Speaking highly of Vietnam – US cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, the US entrepreneurs pledged long-term cooperation to expand their business in many fields in Vietnam.

They said they hope Vietnam will further improve its infrastructure, high-quality human resource training and environmental protection in combination with development.

While talking with representatives of Overseas Vietnamese (OV) and students living and studying in Hawaii, Sang affirmed that the OV are an inseparable part of Vietnam.

The representatives hailed the Vietnamese State’s OV policies, adding that they want to contribute more to the country as well as the development of the Hawaii – Vietnam relations./.