Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The visit to Vietnam by USSecretary of Defence Mark Esper on November 20-21 aims to deepen the bilateraldefence ties in a practical and effective manner, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.
The visit looks to promote the implementationof defence cooperation agreements signed between the two defence ministries andofficials of the two countries, towards strengthening the Vietnam-USComprehensive Partnership, Hang said at the ministry’s regular press conferenceon November 21 in Hanoi in response to reporters’ questions about results ofthe Vietnam-US cooperation.
She said that the comprehensive partnership has developed in many fields inrecent times, including security and defence cooperation.
The two sides have continued promoting bilateral defence link, includingmaritime security cooperation and enhancement of maritime law enforcementcapacity, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation anddevelopment in the region and the world, Hang stressed.
This is the first official visit to Vietnam by Esper as US Secretary ofDefense at the invitation of Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich.
During his stay, Esper held talks with Defence Minister Lich, during which thetwo sides agreed to step up cooperation inaccordance with the contents of the memorandum of understanding on promotingdefence collaboration signed in 2011, the joint vision statement on defencecooperation inked in 2015 and the cooperation plan for 2018-2020 between thetwo defence ministries, focusing on delegation exchange, consultation anddialogue mechanisms and joint work to address post-war consequences.
Hang said theUS is one of Vietnam's main partners in efforts in settling post-war consequencesalong with other countries such as Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea and theUK, as well as international organisations like the UN Development Programmeand the UN Children's Fund.
The Defence Ministry of Vietnam and the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) completed detoxificationat Da Nang airport, and the US pledged to continue funding for dioxin remediationat Bien Hoa airport.
Vietnam and the US will also further promote cooperation in searching for missing-in-actionservicemen, said Hang./.
VNA
