The online meeting also saw the participation of the ambassadors and defense attachés of the two countries.

During the dialogue, the two sides reviewed the development of the bilateral defense cooperation over the past time based on the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral defense cooperation signed in 2011 and the Vietnam-US Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations signed in 2015. The bilateral defense cooperation has contributed to the development of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership.

leftcenterrightdel
Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien co-chairs the dialogue.

General Chien highly valued the two countries’ achievements in joining efforts to address the war aftermath, especially the implementation of the dioxin detoxification project at Bien Hoa airport, a project to support people with disabilities caused by Agent Orange/dioxin. Additionally, the two sides have also teamed up to overcome the consequences of bombs and landmines left by the war and the search for the remains of soldiers missing in action during the war in Vietnam.

In addition, General Chien and Mr. David Helvey also underlined the effective cooperation in preparing and deploying Vietnamese forces to United Nations peace keeping missions and raising competence for personnel of the Vietnam Coast Guard.

For his part, Mr. David Helvey affirmed that the US always attaches much importance to the US-Vietnam comprehensive partnership, He said, the US wants to see a developed and prosperous Vietnam and applauds Vietnam’s increasingly important position in the region.

He said that the US commits to boost bilateral defense cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of maritime security, UN peacekeeping operations, humanitarian aid, and disaster relief. In addition, the two countries will continue to cooperate in war aftermath relief.

The US side also thanked Vietnam for assisting the country in searching for US missing-in-action servicemen and committed to further promote the implementation of other signed projects and activities.

He also congratulated Vietnam on its success in performing the ASEAN Chair 2020 and a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term despite many difficulties and challenges.

Translated by Minh Anh