(VOVworld) - President Truong Tan Sang and his entourage on Saturday (Hanoi time) left New York for Vietnam, concluding his official visit to the US at the invitation of President Barack Obama.

Visiting President Truong Tan Sang and UN chief Ban Ki-moon

While receiving UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Friday, Sang valued the United Nation’s ever increasing role globally and affirmed the UN organisation is holding an influential position in Vietnam’s foreign policy. He said Vietnam is a constructive and responsible member of the international community. Vietnam will continue cooperating with the UN in line with its socio-economic development priorities and the comparative advantages of every UN agency to build up Millennium Development Goal (MDG) gains, the president affirmed. He expressed his belief that the UN will better perform its role in maintaining regional and global peace and stability, promoting dialogue, and peacefully settling international disputes in conformity with the UN Charter and international law, so as to create favourable conditions for the common development of all nations, especially developing ones. UN Secretary General Ban briefed Sang on the UN’s development priorities and spoke highly of Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements and political stability, contributing to stability and development in the region and the rest of the world. He welcomed Vietnam’s decision to join the UN peacekeeping force and said the UN wants to deepen cooperation with Vietnam for long-term development goals.

Meeting with representatives of leading US universities the same day, President Sang affirmed that the US is a key partner of Vietnam and education cooperation is one of bilateral ties’ key pillars. He said with more than 15,000 Vietnamese students currently studying in the US, they help strengthen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. He proposed US institutions undertake initiatives to foster education cooperation with their Vietnamese counterparts. 

On Thursday in New York, President Sang received former US President Bill Clinton. President Sang spoke highly of contributions by Clinton and his wife to the development of Vietnam-US ties. He invited the Clintons to visit Vietnam. Former President Clinton said the establishment of Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership is significant not only for bilateral ties but also for the region and the world.

Former President Bill Clinton has been the first US President to visit Vietnam since 1975 when Vietnam was unified. Earlier, he decided to lift embargo against Vietnam, leading to the normalization of bilateral ties in 1995 and the signing of bilateral free trade agreement in 2000. Hillary Clinton visited Vietnam 3 times during her term as Secretary of State . In particular, she initiated and pursued the establishment of new relationship framework between the two countries, boosting practical support for Vietnam in issues like Agent Orange/dioxin and the Lower Mekong Initiative.