The NA leader said the US is one of the most important partners of Vietnam not only bilaterally but also regionally and globally. He affirmed that Vietnam wants to promote relations with the US via all channels, from political party, government and parliament to people-to-people exchanges.
Hue hailed the great contributions that many US senators and congressmen have made to the normalization and development of the Vietnam-US relationship, citing as examples late senator John McCain, former senator John Kerry and president pro tempore of the US Senate Patrick Leahy.
He asked the US ambassador to help further promote the ties between the two countries’ parliaments to be commensurate with the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership.
Knapper said a number of US senators and congressmen have expressed strong interest and a wish to play a role in promoting not only the US-Vietnam relations but also the ties between the law making bodies of the two countries.
He informed that the president pro tempore of the US Senate, Patrick Leahy, will again visit Vietnam late this year, followed by former senator John Kerry, saying that he wants to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese NA’s agencies to ensure the success of those visits.
The ambassador also took the occasion to reveal that the US House of Representatives is working to establish a group of US-Vietnam friendship parliamentary group similar to the Vietnam-US Friendship Parliamentary Group in the Vietnamese National Assembly. The formation of the group is intended to stir the interest in Vietnam among members of the House and promote exchanges and contacts between legislative bodies of the two countries, he said./.
