Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son had a phone call with US Senator Jeff Merkley

June 4, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son had a phone call with Senator Jeff Merkley, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies of the US Senate Appropriations Committee.

At the meeting During the phone call, Minister Bui Thanh Son expressed his delight at the positive developments in the Vietnam-US comprehensive strategic partnership in recent times. Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that Vietnam considers the US a partner of strategic importance and hopes that the two sides will continue to coordinate more closely in implementing the cooperation contents of the new relationship framework on the basis of respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions.

Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomed the two sides' increased contact and exchange of delegations at all levels and channels, including the parliamentary channel, which has contributed to creating a solid foundation for cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the US Congress. He also respectfully invited Senator Jeff Merkley to soon return to visit Vietnam.

Senator Jeff Merkley recalled the good impressions of his visit to Vietnam last year and affirmed the strong support of the US Congress for promoting the Vietnam-US comprehensive strategic partnership, consistently supporting a strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Vietnam. Senator Jeff Merkley agreed on the importance of promoting contacts and delegation exchanges and said that a number of US Senate delegations have plans to visit Vietnam in the near future.

Minister Bui Thanh Son expressed his hope that the US Congress would support the maintenance of stable and sustainable economic-trade-investment relations between the two countries, while continuing to pay attention to dedicating resources to support Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of war, responding to climate change, developing high-quality human resources... Senator Jeff Merkley shared the Minister's opinions and said that he personally would continue to prioritize further promoting cooperation in overcoming the consequences of war as well as areas of cooperation that both sides are interested in.

The two sides also highly appreciated the cooperation between Vietnam and the state of Oregon - the hometown of Senator Jeff Merkley in recent times. On this occasion, Minister Bui Thanh Son thanked the Oregon National Guard for recently supporting Military Hospital 175 to launch the first International Trauma Training Center in Vietnam. Thereby, helping to train according to international standards for the Vietnamese military medical force to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in the coming time. Senator Jeff Merkley also said that he will continue to care for and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the United States in general and the state of Oregon in particular to live, work and study.

The two sides also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern. Senator Merkley emphasized that the United States values and supports ASEAN's central role in the regional architecture and will continue to promote the US-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership and the US-Mekong partnership. Discussing the East Sea issue, the two sides agreed on the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

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