Vietnamese PM meets US congressman in Hanoi

HANOI - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with visiting US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs here on Wednesday.

At the meeting, Dung spoke highly of Faleomavaega's contribution in boosting Vietnam-US relations in recent years, affirming that Vietnam always wishes to further strengthen the cooperative and friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, in the interest of peace and stability in the region.

Dung expressed his hope to further promote exchanges between the US Congress and Vietnam's National Assembly, and between the two peoples, contributing to the development of the bilateral cooperation in economy, investment, science and technology, especially in the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The prime minister also proposed the US government to launch more effective activities in supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin.

Eni Faleomavaega, for his part, applauded Vietnam's achievements in socio-economic development, stressing that he will continue to campaign for the US Congress to increase the budget for clean-up of dioxin contamination and support of AO victims in Vietnam.

Faleomavaega also recognized Vietnam's achievements in the protection of human rights and the right to freedom of religion and belief, agreeing that there should be an objective approach to Vietnam's human rights issues, based on the authentication information and the specifics of culture, history, tradition and level of development.