Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (L) and US President Barrack Obama hold talks at the Oval Office (Photo: VNA)
(VOVworld) - Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and US President Barack Obama have met in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
President Obama welcomed the official visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation. He said the US attaches special importance to its relations with Vietnam and Vietnam’s role in the Asian-Pacific region, expressing his hope for stronger bilateral relations.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed Vietnam’s consistent and long-term policy of treasuring the development of relations with the US. The full implementation and continuous intensification of their comprehensive partnership in the principle of respecting each other’s independence, sovereignty and political regime without interference into each other’s internal affairs is the foundation of trust and boosting ties to a new level.
The two leaders stressed the importance of enhancing people-to-people exchanges, cooperating in humanitarian activities, settling consequences of the war, and cooperating in a broad and results-oriented manner at multilateral mechanisms and forums so as to actively contribute to global peace, security, stability and sustainable development, including cooperation on anti-terrorism, cyber security, and coping with epidemics and climate change.
They also hailed positive progress attained during negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and underlined the importance of this pact to regional development along with its major contributions to global growth and stability. They held that the TPP needs to take into account the developmental level of negotiating members and respect their political and cultural differences, creating a new and critical momentum for fostering cooperation between the US and the Asian-Pacific region. The two sides agreed that the maintenance of peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea is the common interest and responsibility of the regional and international community. They both expressed support of the principle of resolving disputes via peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law, without using or threatening to use force or acting to further complicate the situation in the East Sea.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said Vietnam supports the elevation of US-ASEAN ties to a Strategic Partnership and vows to work with the US and other countries to promote the central role of ASEAN and ensure the effectiveness of such forums as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in maintaining peace and security as well as in dealing with political and economic issues in the region. He added that he hopes the US will continue to support and coordinate with Vietnam for the successful organization of the APEC Summit in Vietnam in 2017. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong invited President Obama to visit Vietnam soon. The US President accepted the invitation with pleasure.
President Obama said there has been a difficult history between our two countries in the 20th century. And there continue to be significant differences in political philosophy and political systems between our two countries. He added that because of the efforts of leaders in both parties here in the United States, as well as the leadership in Vietnam over the years, a constructive relationship has emerged that is based on mutual respect and has benefitted the peoples of both countries. President Obama addressed a press briefing following the talks: “We discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, and the enormous potential of a high-standards trade agreement that raises labor standards, raises environmental standards, and could potentially create significant job growth and prosperity for both the Vietnamese and the American people. We discussed the importance of resolving maritime disputes in the Easy Sea and throughout the Asia Pacific in accordance with international law, to ensure that the prosperity and freedom of navigation that has underwritten the enormous economic growth that’s taken place in the region continues for decades to come. We discussed continued people-to-people exchanges. As General Secretary Trong noted, we have more Vietnamese-Americans here and expatriate Vietnamese than any other country in the world, and they’ve made enormous contributions to our country. We want to continue to deepen those exchanges.”
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said Vietnam and the US have become good friends and comprehensive partners and hoped that bilateral ties will continue to grow. He said: “The President and I had extensive and in-depth discussions towards a better relationship in the future with comprehensive development in all fields. We had an open and candid discussion on human rights issues, the East Sea, where there are activities in violation of international law and regional agreements, and how to ensure an early finalization of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.”
After the talks, the Party leader and the US President signed a declaration on a common vision between Vietnam and the US.