Presidents chair international press conference

At the press conference, State President Tran Dai Quang said that he and US President Barack Obama had talks about the relationship of the two countries, and regional and international issues which both sides are concerned about. According to President Tran Dai Quang, the Vietnam – US relationship has seen important gains, the two sides are abided by commitments of respecting each other’s independence, sovereignty, and political institutions; and both sides have discussed the implementation of the Joint Statement on Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership signed in July 2013 and the Joint Vision Statement in July 2015.

State President Tran Dai Quang said that both countries agreed to enhance the in-depth comprehensive partnership with a priority given to co-operation on development, and to address the aftermath of the American War.

"Both sides have reached a number of important agreements on economics and trade, health, education and training, law enforcement and judicial issues, exchanges between people of the two countries,… Both sides agreed to prioritise the settlement of the aftermath of the war and were committed to continue to co-operate on this issue. The US will co-operate with Vietnam on dioxin detoxification at Biên Hòa Airport after the two countries successfully finished the dioxin detoxification project at Da Nang Airport", State President Tran Dai Quang made a speech.

Both sides discussed the future of the bilateral relationship and measures to deepen it, with a focus on building confidence and furthering the development on economics, trade, investment, science and technology, vocational training and climate change mitigation. The two sides reiterated the determination to support the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. State President Tran Dai Quang said that at the talks, both sides underlined bilateral co-operation on regional and international issues, maintaining peace, climate change and regional and international peace and stability.

"US President Obama and I agreed that both sides continue to enhance cooperation at regional and international forums. The US will support Vietnam in organising the APEC Summit 2017 and UN peacekeeping activities. Both sides discussed recent developments in the East Sea, and pledged to work together to cope with climate change and sustainably use water resources in the Mekong River. We believe the development of the US-Vietnam relationship not only benefits each country but also contributes to the ASEAN-US relationship, peace, stability and co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region and wider", State President Tran Dai Quang added.

At the conference, US President Barack Obama expressed his thanks to the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnamese government and people for the welcoming hospitality he received. He reiterated that after 2 decades of normalisation, the US-Vietnam relationship experienced huge improvements.

According to President Barack Obama, trade value between the two countries increased by over 100 times, creating jobs for people of both countries. US exports to Vietnam had risen one and a half times. The US is currently the biggest export market of Vietnam. President Obama mentioned 13,000 Vietnamese students who are currently studying in the US and 500,000 tourists from the US visiting Vietnam last year and said that his visit will deepen the relationship of the two countries and pave the way for further co-operation.

Both sides agreed to support the ratification of the TPP agreement, realisation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, support for the resident of the Mekong Delta in terms of the impact of climate change, use of nuclear power for civil purposes, and capability enhancement in peace keeping activities. The State President of Vietnam highly appreciated that the US had completely lifted the arms embargo on Vietnam.

In response to questions on differences in opinions concerning human rights issues between the two countries, State President Trần Đại Quang reiterated that the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese government are consistent in protecting human rights and achieved internationally recognised accomplishments. The two countries will continue to have talks to reduce the differences on the issues.

State President Tran Dai Quang: "In the visit of US President Barack Obama to Vietnam, Vietnam and the US also issued a joint statement agreeing to intensify the comprehensive partnership in a more practical and effective manner, and to consider development co-operation a focus of bilateral ties".

In response to questions on the lifting of arms embargo on Vietnam, US President Barack Obama said that the ban deepened the relationship of the two countries besides co-operation on other fields.

Also at the press conference, State President Tran Dai Quang and US President Barack Obama answered questions on the facilitation of the TPP agreement, and the important role of Vietnam in the US’ foreign policies. After the press conference, State President Tran Dai Quang held a reception for the US president.