Socialist Republic of Vietnam

A reception was held Thursday at the Embassy of Vietnam in Washington to mark the 61th Anniversary of the Vietnamese National Day September 2nd 1945 - 2006.

Congressman Carnahan, Congressman Moran, Ambassador Karan Bhatia, USTR Deputy Representative, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford, Ambassadors of ASEAN countries and hundreds of others from US Congress, Government, American business and media community and Vietnamese living in the US attended the event which also featured Vietnamese traditional music and food.

In his remark, Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien highlighted the achievements over the 60 years of nation building and current renovation process of the country.

"Our road ahead set forth by the 10th Party Congress is very clear:" said Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien. "[It is] to bring Vietnam out of the list of the most underdeveloped countries by 2010, and to build Vietnam into an industrialized country by 2020. For these goal, the entire Vietnamese nation stands united."

The Ambassador also noted with satisfaction the good progress in the Vietnam US relationship.

"The coming of PNTR and President Bush’s visit will turn 2006 into an unforgettable year in the history of Vietnam – US relations" said Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien".-------------

Remarks by Ambassador Nguyen Tam Chien at the 61th Anniversary of Vietnamese National Day (September 2nd, 1945 – September 2nd, 2006)

Embassy of Vietnam 2251 R Str Washington DC
2/9/2006

Honorable Congressman Carnahan and Congressman Moran
Ambassador Bhatia,
Distinguished Guests,
Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin with a warm welcome and my sincere thanks to all of you for being here with us to celebrate our National Day, September 2nd, 1945 – September 2nd, 2006.

I see so many of my friends and colleagues in this room and I believe that your presence manifests the good progress in the relationship between Vietnam and the United States.

The Vietnamese people commemorate this National Day with a refreshed spirit and renewed enthusiasm for further in-depth and extensive socio-economic reform, with a view to accelerating the development process and raising the living standard of the people. Our road ahead set forth by the 10th Party Congress is very clear: to bring Vietnam out of the list of the most underdeveloped countries by 2010, and to build Vietnam into an industrialized country by 2020.

For these goals the entire Vietnamese nation stands united, striving for greater success in the course of comprehensive renovation at home and proactive integration into the regional and world economy.

Our immediate target this year is to fulfill commitments within the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and to become a member of the WTO by Mid October. With these efforts we are fully confident in our ability to sustain a high rate of growth and enjoy new opportunities to expand fair trade and mutually-beneficial cooperation with all countries.

These days, the mention of Permanant Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) is heard everywhere I go. We need stronger support and cooperation from friends, including all of you here today, so that the US extends PNTR to Vietnam. With PNTR comes great significance for bilateral ties: PNTR represents the last step to complete the process of normalization and reconciliation between our two nations; PNTR opens a new chapter in the Vietnam-US relationship; and PNTR serves the immediate and long-term interests of our two countries.

Talking about PNTR as the last step in the normalization process between Vietnam and the United States, we cannot refrain from recalling the opportunities the two countries have missed to normalize relations in our shared history, and we cannot refrain from recalling how far we have gone and how much we have done over the last decade to improve our ties.

Last April, during his visit in Vietnam, Speaker Hastert and the then-Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Nguyen Van An shared the same thought that our two nations could have saved more than 60 years in establishing our current friendship. As many of you may be aware, on September 2nd 1945, Ho Chi Minh, the first President of the new Vietnam, started our Declaration of Independence with an idea from the American Declaration of Independence. And among his first correspondence with other countries, President Ho sent letters to President Harry Truman, confirming full cooperation with the United States and welcoming support from the United States for the independence of Vietnam.These historical facts remind us to do our best in order not to miss any other opportunity to foster our relations.

2006 marks a very significant year for Vietnam. It’s the first time Vietnam hosts the APEC summit and welcomes leaders from all APEC economies to Hanoi. We are looking forward to welcoming President Bush in his State visit to Vietnam on this occasion.

Following on other remarkable milestones in the bilateral relationship such as the lifting of the trade embargo in 1994, the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1995, the visit by President Clinton to Vietnam in 2000, the signing of the bilateral trade agreement in 2001, the visit to US by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in 2005, and the signing of Vietnam-US agreement on Vietnam accession into the WTO last May, the coming of PNTR and President Bush’s visit will turn 2006 into an unforgettable year in the history of Vietnam – US relations.

Once again, allow me to thank you for joining us today to mark our National Day. We all look forward to renewed efforts by all of us in bringing about a fully-normalized relationship and a bright future for our two nations.

May friendship, cooperation, and partnership between Vietnam and the US continue to flourish for the prosperity of our two peoples.

Thank you very much.