HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary, President of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng held talks in Hà Nội on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump, who said his country will continue co-operating with Việt Nam to promote the development of the countries’ comprehensive partnership.

The host leader welcomed President Trump’s visit along with the US and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s decision to choose Việt Nam as the venue for their second summit.

He affirmed Việt Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of foreign relations, and integration into the world on the principle of respecting one another’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political regimes.

He also reiterated the country’s consistent viewpoint of treasuring the partnership with the US.

Party General Secretary, President Trọng expressed his delight at the progress in Việt Nam-US relations, which has helped bring practical benefits to the countries’ people.

He appreciated the US’s co-operation in economy-trade, education and settlement of war consequences, especially commencing the environmental remediation of dioxin contamination in Biên Hòa Airport and other dioxin-contaminated areas.

The two countries should push ahead with co-operation in other fields like unexploded ordnance clearance and support for Agent Orange victims, the host added.

For his part, President Trump said he was impressed by the hospitality of local people and the development of Việt Nam. He thanked the country for its thorough preparations for the DPRK - USA summit in a short period of time.

The two leaders agreed that their countries need to maintain high-level meetings and delegation exchanges and consolidate existing dialogue mechanisms. They voiced their support for further co-operation in addressing war consequences, including fixing dioxin contamination in Biên Hòa Airport.

They also agreed to foster mutually beneficial partnerships in economy, trade and investment.

Discussing regional and international issues of common concern, General Secretary and President Trọng affirmed that Việt Nam supports the dialogue process towards the denuclearisation and long-term peace in the Korean Peninsula.

President Trump said the US will continue playing an active role in the Indo-Pacific region to help maintain a rules-based order and promote peace, stability, co-operation and development in this important region.

On this occasion, he invited the Party General Secretary, President of Việt Nam to pay an official visit to the US this year to continue discussing measures to intensify the partnership.

Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of several economic co-operation documents worth more than US$21 billion in total. — VNS