Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang (right) presented a souvenir to the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Hà Nội on June 10. — Photo from the Việt Nam Government Portal

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's Ministry of National Defence will work closely with the US and provide the most favourable conditions possible for the search for US military personnel missing in action (MIA) from the war, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence General Phan Văn Giang stated while receiving US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

Reaffirming that Việt Nam always regards the US as one of its important partners, Giang noted that, against the backdrop of the positive development of the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development, Việt Nam hopes the two sides will soon finalise and sign a reciprocal, fair and balanced trade agreement.

He added that Việt Nam will actively coordinate with the US to facilitate the early removal of Việt Nam from the D1 and D3 export control lists and to address the Section 301 investigation under the US Trade Act of 1974 concerning intellectual property issues related to Việt Nam. Such steps would further promote bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic and trade spheres, for the benefit of both countries, Giang said.

In recent years, bilateral defence cooperation between Việt Nam and the US has been implemented effectively and pragmatically, in line with the overall relationship. Giang proposed the two sides focus on such areas as exchange of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level visits, consultation and dialogue mechanisms, training cooperation, United Nations peacekeeping operations, cooperation among military services, cybersecurity, military medicine, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.

At the same time, Giang expressed his hope that Landau, in his capacity, would continue to support efforts to advance bilateral defence cooperation in a more substantive manner, thereby making a positive contribution to the bilateral relations.

In the spirit of putting the past behind and looking towards the future, both sides continue to attach importance to and prioritise cooperation in addressing the war consequences. On the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding on promoting cooperation in overcoming war aftermath signed in October 2025, the Vietnamese ministry hopes that the US Department of State will fulfil its commitments to support Việt Nam, including the provision of an additional US$130 million for the dioxin remediation project at Biên Hoà airbase, with the aim of completing the project before 2030 and ensuring a safe living environment for local residents.

Giang also expressed his wish for the US to increase the sharing of information, documents and belongings related to Vietnamese soldiers during the war, while supporting Vietnam in enhancing its capacity for DNA analysis of remains.

He stressed that the US assistance is particularly necessary at this time, as Việt Nam is urgently implementing the 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of martyrs’ remains, thereby making the most effective use of time to carry out this profoundly humanitarian mission.

Giang noted that the third Việt Nam International Defence Expo is expected to be held in December 2026, and Việt Nam welcomes the participation of US officials and defence enterprises.

For his part, Landau highly valued cooperation with Việt Nam and emphasised that his working visit to the country serves as a positive demonstration of the bilateral relations, aimed at further implementing agreed areas of cooperation, particularly in addressing war consequences.

The US official affirmed that he would continue to make efforts to strengthen and deepen the Việt Nam–US comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development in general, and bilateral defence cooperation in particular, making them increasingly effective and substantive. — VNA/VNS