Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng speaks at the press briefing. – VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng and US President Joseph Biden met with the press following their talks in Hà Nội on Sunday evening.

The following is a translation of Party General Secretary Trọng’s address to the press.

Your Excellency Mr US President Joe Biden,

Your Distinguished Guests,

On behalf of the Party, State and people of Việt Nam, I’d like to warmly welcome the US President, Mr Joe Biden, who has shown his special affections for Việt Nam and Vietnamese people and in different positions of his diplomatic career, he has always given Việt Nam his valuable support for the development of Việt Nam – US friendship relations. His current visit to Việt Nam coincides with the two countries’ 10 year- Comprehensive Partnership anniversary celebration.

I always treasure all the great memories about the US Government’s respectful reception and the warmth of American people for me when I visited the US in July 2015, especially the sincere and interesting discussions between Mr Joe Biden and me during that trip. I’d like to thank President Joe Biden for his invitation for me to make another visit to the US.

In the spirit of friendship, equality and with mutual understanding and respect, my talks with President Biden have brought about fruitful results. We’ve agreed that the Việt Nam – US relations have gained mighty, deep, realistic and effective strides since the normalisation and the comprehensive partnership were established. On this occasion, on behalf of Vietnamese people, I would like to thank all American organisations and individuals that have supported Việt Nam and contributed to the development of the two countries’ friendship and cooperation.

On that basis, for the benefit of the two countries’ people and the wish to strengthen cooperation for the targets of peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the new context, Mr President Joe Biden and I, on behalf of the two nations, adopted the Joint statement on establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

The partnership continues to base on the full respect for fundamental principles guiding the bilateral relationship in the coming time, including the respect for the United Nations Charter, international law and each other’s political institutions, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We emphasised that the understanding of each other and each other's situation, respect for each other's legitimate interests and non-interference into each other's internal affairs are always of important significance. Việt Nam highly values and treasures the US's affirmation to support a “strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous” Việt Nam.

The contents of the new partnership inherit existing cooperation contents between the two countries, and take them to a higher level through the promotion of economic, trade, investment cooperation in the direction that renovation is the foundation, focal point and motivation for the bilateral relations, and the enhancement of cooperation in science-technology is a new breakthrough of the Việt Nam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development. In the time to come, relevant agencies of the two nations will work together to realise the reached agreements, creating conditions for the next development steps.

Việt Nam promotes relations with the US and other international partners in the spirit outlined by President Hồ Chí Minh after Việt Nam regained independence, which is Việt Nam is a friend of all countries. Regarding the US, President Hồ Chí Minh affirmed Việt Nam's complete independence and Việt Nam's willingness to fully cooperate with the US. The independence and cooperation are beneficial to the whole world. We all know that in many following years and months, the Vietnamese people went through uncountable sacrifice and hardship to defend the nation's independence and regain unification.

The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Việt Nam also the set the policy on strengthening and deepening bilateral cooperative relations in the framework of the consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation of external relations; Việt Nam is a friend, a trustworthy partner as well as an active and responsible member of the international community.

Mr. President Joe Biden and me informed each other about the situation of the two countries, expressing appreciation of the efforts and positive results achieved in socio-economic development in each country. Regarding complex situations and international conflicts, Việt Nam hopes that the parties engage in dialogues, resolve those peacefully on the basis of respecting the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.

I hope that through this important and meaningful visit, Mr. President, other members of the delegation and all of you will have the opportunity to get first-hand feelings of the renewal, dynamic development, long history of civilisation of Việt Nam, as well as the affectionate, hospitable, friendly and peace-loving Vietnamese people.

I believe that President Joe Biden’s visit to Việt Nam will be a great success. I wish Mr. President new successes and wish you, members of the delegation, those present here and their families good health and happiness. VNS