The diplomat stressed that over the last 12 months, Vietnam and the US exchanged a number of visits by governmental, parliamentary and trade delegations.

During Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the US in June at the invitation of President George W. Bush, the two leaders agreed to place importance on economic and trade relations. The two sides also signed important cooperation agreements on education and climate changes.

He expressed his pleasure at the growing bilateral trade in the first half of 2008, which exceeded the US$12.53 billion level of 2007. Remarkably, US export value to Vietnam during the period reached US$1.61 billion. US investment in Vietnam also picked up, he said.

Thanks to an education agreement signed during the Vietnamese PM’s tour of the US, a bilateral committee on education will be set up to broaden cooperation in the field between the two countries with the aim of supporting Vietnamese students’ studies in the US, the diplomat said.

Regarding joint efforts in dealing with Agent Orange/Dioxin, the ambassador revealed that a US$3 million project on overcoming the environment and improving healthcare will be started in the next two or three weeks. He also talked about the need of mine clearance.