Preparations for ASEAN summit reflect nation's will

HA NOI – Preparations for the upcoming ASEAN 16th summit should demonstrate the country's willingness for integration and development, said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Speaking at the fourth preparatory meeting of the National Committee for the ASEAN summit next month, Khiem, who is also head of the committee, stressed the importance of successfully organising the event, and asked the committee to strengthen co-operation with other offices to guarantee smooth execution of planned activities.

Viet Nam, US veterans in reconciliation talks

Ha Noi — Vietnamese and US veterans held talks in Ha Noi yesterday as part of an effort to increase mutual understanding and promote reconciliation between the two nations after the war.

Under the theme of "People-to-people exchange and Viet Nam-US relations: Looking back on the past and forwards to the future", the talks were jointly organised by the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the Viet Nam War Veterans Association and the Viet Nam Veterans of America (VVA).

During the forum, participants discussed the role of grassroots organisations in mitigating the destructive impacts of the war as well as increasing mutual understanding and fostering reconciliation.

They spoke highly of the contributions that veterans agencies had made to address the impacts of Agent Orange/dioxin and the role of Vietnamese veterans in helping heal the wounds of war. They also underlined the need to boost co-operation between enterprises through people-to-people exchanges.

US participants said the overseas Vietnamese community had contributed a great deal to the promotion of relations between Viet Nam and the US.

During the function, both sides also discussed measures to increase trade and investment relations between the two countries. – VNS