US President Obama to visit VN in May

PM Nguyen Tan Dung and US President Barack Obama in Sunnylands, California, the US on February 15, 2016. Photo: VGP

PM Dung affirmed that leaders and people of Viet Nam welcome the visit and tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the US side to well prepare for the visit.

The Government chief said that the visit will help open a new stage of cooperation for peace and development, elevating the bilateral ties to new height.

The two leaders discussed the bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

PM Dung said Viet Nam is deeply concerned over the increasingly complicated developments in the East Sea as they are the real threat to peace, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation.

He urged the US to have strong voice and more practical actions to put an end to all activities, especially large-scaled construction of artificial islands and militarization, aimed at changing the status quo in the East Sea.

President Obama affirmed that the US is concerned over the East Sea situation and voiced strong support for diplomatic efforts and legal process in order to settle disputes in the East Sea on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.

Regarding the bilateral ties, PM Dung said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was officially signed and the member countries need to quickly complete ratification procedures.

He also asked the US to soon recognize Viet Nam’s market economy and extend the duration from 18 months to three or four years for Viet Nam to meet the relevant regulations of the US Farm Bill 2014 while providing technical assistance for the Southeast Asian country to strengthen management of food hygiene and safety for tra and basa exports to the US.

PM Dung asked President Obama to continue his stronger support for Viet Nam to overcome the war consequences and enhance law enforcement capacity of the Viet Nam Coast Guard.

He also urged the US to fully ease the lethal arms ban on Viet Nam as an important measure to consolidate the political trust between the two countries.

President Obama said the meeting with PM Dung was successful.