General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm has a meeting in New York on September 21 with a group of US House lawmakers led by Representative Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. VNA/VNS Photo

NEW YORK — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm had a meeting in New York on September 21 with a group of US House lawmakers led by Representative Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who affirmed their support to maintaining the positive momentum in Việt Nam-US relations.

General Secretary and President Lâm spoke highly of the attention and support from the US Congress, including Meeks, for Việt Nam and Việt Nam-US relations, affirming that Việt Nam regards the US as one of its leading strategically important partners and wishes to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries in a stable, substantive and effective manner.

Emphasising the role of the two legislatures in strengthening the political foundation, enhancing mutual understanding and building trust, the leader asked Meeks and the US Congress to continue supporting bilateral relations and step up exchanges of delegations, interactions among specialised committees, friendship parliamentary groups and congressional staff.

Meeks hailed the positive development of Việt Nam-US relations, affirmed the importance he attaches to ties with Việt Nam and parliamentary cooperation, and expressed his wish to further promote exchanges between the two legislatures, thereby contributing to the development of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Discussing economic and trade cooperation, General Secretary and President Lâm stressed that this is a pillar and important driver of bilateral relations, calling on the two sides to promote free, fair, balanced and sustainable trade and soon conclude negotiations on a reciprocal, fair and balanced trade agreement. Việt Nam also wishes to strengthen cooperation with the US in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and high-tech industries, he said.

The Party and State leader called on the US Congress to continue paying attention to and supporting bilateral cooperation in addressing war consequences, defence and security, local-level cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, while creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the US to grow further, make positive contributions to their host country and serve as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.

Meeks agreed with General Secretary and President Lâm's proposals, supported maintaining the positive growth momentum in Việt Nam-US relations and promoting the role of the two legislatures in advancing bilateral cooperation.

He affirmed that he will continue contributing to strengthening mutual understanding and trust and helping the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership develop in a stable, substantive and effective manner.

The US side thanked and highly valued Việt Nam's active and responsible support in the search for, recovery and identification of the remains of US service members missing in action (MIA) during the war.

They pledged to further assist Việt Nam in addressing war consequences, including clearing unexploded ordnance, remediating dioxin contamination, supporting people with disabilities, and accompanying Việt Nam in implementing the 500-day campaign to search for, recover and identify the remains of Vietnamese fallen soldiers whose information is incomplete or who remain missing from the war. — VNA/VNS