President Nguyễn Minh Triết arrives in Washington

Just after his arrival, the State President held a meeting with the local Vietnamese community, during which he stressed the significance of the first official visit to the US by a State President of an independent and reunified Viet Nam, saying that the visit will help promote the friendly and cooperative relations between Viet Nam and the US, and affirm Viet Nam's rising prestige in the regional and international arenas.

President Nguyễn Minh Triết also affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always consider the overseas Vietnamese an integral part of the Vietnamese community of nationalities.

He said for Viet Nam to rise to its current position, many generations of Vietnamese, regardless of whether they are in or outside the country, have made unceasing efforts to contribute to the cause of national construction and defence, especially the reforms over the past 20 years.

The State leader called on overseas Vietnamese to keep close connection with the home country and pass onto young generations their Vietnamese culture, particularly the Vietnamese language.

Before leaving for Washington, President Nguyễn Minh Triết and his delegation were banqueted by the Asia Foundation and met with representatives from different social circles in New York.

The President conveyed to the US political, business, and scholar circles the message that the Vietnamese people hope and are willing to join efforts with the US people to raise the two countries' current fine relationship to a new height.

President Nguyễn Minh Triết stressed that in spite of the geographical distance, both Viet Nam and the US want to build a friendly and cooperative relationship. Since normalisation, Viet Nam-US bilateral relations have grown rapidly, bilateral cooperation in many areas has been expanded, he said. The President went on to say, "The Vietnamese people want peace and stability for their national construction and development, so Viet Nam is expanding diplomatic ties with other countries, and hope to befriend all countries".

The same day, President Nguyễn Minh Triết attended a lecture on education at the Harvard University . Addressing the lecture, the President said the Vietnamese Party and State paid special attention to education and called on US universities to promote cooperation with Vietnamese universities.

The Vietnamese State leader also visited the New York headquarters of General Electricity.

By Phương Hồng