National Assembly (NA) Deputy Chairman General Đỗ Bá Tỵ (r) meets with Deputy Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan during his visit to the US from July 21-27. —VNA/VNS Photo Đặng Huyền

WASHINGTON DC — National Assembly (NA) Deputy Chairman General Đỗ Bá Tỵ is leading a delegation of the NA on a working visit to the US from July 21-27 to bolster Việt Nam-US ties. 

During the stay, the Vietnamese delegation had working sessions with US congressmen representing the Senate’s Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Appropriations and Committee on Finance and the House of Representatives’ Committee on Armed Services. 

The delegation visited the Department of Defence and met with Deputy Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan, National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and several US scholars and entrepreneurs. 

In those meetings, General Tỵ reaffirmed Việt Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations, with importance attached to developing the bilateral comprehensive partnership with the US. 

The Vietnamese delegation took the occasion to recommend the two sides to intensify co-operation in supervision and legislative affairs and in economics, trade, security and defence, particularly in addressing war consequences such as dioxin detoxification, support for AO/dioxin victims, bomb and mine clearance and search for missing servicemen. 

While meeting representatives from US enterprises, Việt Nam’s NA deputies informed them of policies and laws regulating the business environment in Việt Nam. 

They clarified US enterprises’ queries on the impacts of the Law on Cyber Security and tax policies so they can feel secure when operating in the Southeast Asian country. 

The Vietnamese legislature would pay attention to law making to have appropriate laws to ensure equality between both domestic and foreign investors, Tỵ affirmed. 

US congressmen and officials noted the significance of the Vietnamese NA delegation’s visit at a time when the US Congress is discussing several items related to the two countries’ relations. They said the two sides shared concerns over climate change, rising sea levels, as well as peace, security and development in Asia-Pacific. 

They also agreed that the two countries should boost collaboration in economics, trade, security and defence, while humanitarian work to tackle war consequences will be promoted. The two sides will step up delegation exchanges and intensify supervision to speed up the implementation of signed co-operation agreements. — VNS