Chairman of the National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ meets US Senator Mike Crapo during his working visit to Việt Nam. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI - Chairman of the National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ yesterday said that addressing the aftermaths of war will be a top priority in Việt Nam-US relations.

Speaking at the reception for a delegation from the US Congress led by Senator Mike Crapo on Friday, Huệ highly appreciated the positive, substantial and comprehensive development of the bilateral relations in recent times between the two countries.

He expressed his hope that the US would continue to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on the search for Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the war, focusing on sharing information, artifacts and enhancing the capacity of Vietnamese experts in DNA analysis.

Huệ said he hoped the US Congress would continue to give high priority to addressing war aftermaths, increase the budget for addressing dioxin hotspots, deploy bomb and mine clearance assistance, support war-affected people with disabilities and search for and identify the remains of Vietnamese martyrs.

In particular, he said, the project on dioxin contamination remediation at Biên Hoà Airport in the southern province of Đồng Nai as well as A So Airport in central Thừa Thiên – Huế Province and Phù Cát Airport in central Bình Định Province should be accelerated.

Huệ highlighted the legislative cooperation of the two countries, which should further develop to enable US congressmen and Vietnamese National Assembly deputies to have a better understanding of each country's situation and the bilateral relations, especially among young legislators.

This would also help promote the establishment of mechanisms for exchange and coordination between the two legislatures, build the specialised committees of the Vietnamese National Assembly and the US Congress and soon establish a group of US congressmen supporting Việt Nam-US relations at the US Congress.

At the meeting, NA Chairman Huệ also expressed Việt Nam's support for the United States' role as the APEC Chair in November 2023. He emphasised that Việt Nam was committed to promoting cooperation and connectivity for sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Among these efforts, APEC was one of the priority forums in Việt Nam's foreign policy implementation. Việt Nam has successfully hosted the APEC Summit twice in 2006 and 2017, and he said he hoped the US would support Việt Nam's hosting of APEC in 2027.

Regarding the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), he highly appreciated the United States' support for Việt Nam's and ASEAN's positions on the East Sea, including ensuring freedom of navigation, overflight, and peaceful resolution of disputes based on international law (UNCLOS 1982).

Senator Crapo expressed his agreement with NA Chairman Huệ's views on cooperation in addressing the war aftermaths, economy, trade, investment and legislative collaboration.

He pledged that the US would stand alongside Việt Nam to address the aftermaths of war.

He agreed that the bilateral trade volume of $123 billion in 2022 was a significant result and urged both sides to make efforts to increase the position of the US as the seventh largest foreign investor to become the first in Việt Nam.

The senator also praised Việt Nam's commitments to all four pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and said multilateral and bilateral co-operation was one of the US’ highest priorities in relation to countries in the region, including Việt Nam.

Both sides said they desired to further enhance the relationship between the two parliaments by promoting exchanges at various levels, especially among high-ranking leaders of the legislatures, fostering cooperation between the legislative bodies of both countries, and engaging in cooperative activities in various fields.

On this occasion, the NA Chairman Huệ extended an invitation to the delegation of US senators to attend the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted by the Vietnamese National Assembly in Hà Nội in September. – VNS