11th Anniversary of Vietnam - U.S. Diplomatic Relations Marked with New Optimism
Vietnam and the US have been making great strides toward conciliation and multi-sectoral co-operation, said Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Tam Chien on July 12.
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| Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien and Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield at the reception. |
At a reception on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the normalisation of Vietnam-US diplomatic ties (July 12, 1995 - 2006), Ambassador Chien said bilateral relations have seen great progress over the past few decades, starting with co-operation in searching for Missing in Action (MIA) soldiers and efforts to boost modest trade ties to the establishment of diplomatic ties 11 years ago, to the exchange of high-level delegations, most notably the Vietnam visit in 2000 by US President Bill Clinton and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to the US in 2005, and the up-coming visit to Vietnam by President George W Bush to attend the APEC Summit.
The ambassador said with the signing of the bilateral agreement on Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the on-going debate in the US Congress to approve the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for Vietnam, the two countries are carrying out the last steps to fully normalise Vietnam-US relations in general and the trade and economic relations in particular.
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| From left: Chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly Foreign Affairs Commitee Vu Mao, Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien, Chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly Economic and Budget Committee Vu Duc Kien and Ambassador-at-Large John Hanford. |
"The years of 2005 and 2006 are important landmarks of a new period in the Vietnam-US relations which will see the development of bilateral partnership, friendship and long-term stable and mutually-benefiting co-operation," Ambassador Chien said.
He stressed that in implementing a foreign policy of independence, peace, co-operation and development, and multilateralisation and diversification of international relations, Vietnam attaches great importance to and will continue its efforts for full normalisation of the Vietnam-US relations, which is in the interest of the two peoples and in line with the current development trend.
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gorden H. Mansfield, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford, representatives of the U.S. Government, Congress, business community, ASEAN ambassadors, Vietnam National Assembly delegations, Vietnamese Americans and media were present at the reception.
Source: VNA. Photo: Embassy of Vietnam.
