Reception marks VN's National Day in US
(VNA) Ambassador of Vietnam Le Cong Phung hosted a National Day (Sept. 2) reception in the capital city of the United States on Sept. 15.
Among their guests at the reception were officials from the US Department of State and the ambassadors of several countries in the US .
Speaking on this occasion, Ambassador Phung recalled 64 years of development of Vietnam since the country's foundation in 1945. He laid stress on the achievements Vietnam gained in national construction, especially the high economic growth rates over recent years.
The diplomat said the Vietnam-US relations have constantly grown in many fields, including security and national defence.
Joseph Donovan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said two-way trade surpassed 15 billion USD in 2008, a more than ten-fold increase since the bilateral trade agreement went into effect in 2001. He also noted Vietnam 's phenomenal growth has lifted millions out of poverty, at a rate that the World Bank described as among the fastest in history, and American companies continue to find new opportunities in an increasingly more open Vietnam .
Donovan added that the opening of the Vietnamese General Consultate in Houston of Texas in several weeks marked a new step forward in the relations between the US and Vietnam./.
