PM meets Viet kieu business leaders, intellectuals on US visit

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his entourage met with overseas Vietnamese business-people and intellectuals in Houston, Texas after leaving Washington D.C on Wednesday afternoon.

At the meeting, PM Dung reiterated the importance the Party and State placed on the national solidarity policy which aims is to turn Viet Nam into a just, democratic, civilised society and a country of wealthy people.

"The overseas Vietnamese community is an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation," the PM said, adding that the State always felt a responsibility towards them.

According to PM Dung, almost all the 3.2 million overseas Vietnamese, of which half are said to reside in the US, have integrated well into their new countries but still whole-heartedly love their motherland.

Among them, about 400,000 people with university degrees had made great contributions to the bilateral co-operation between Vietnam and the US, he noted.

The PM also expressed his desire for overseas Vietnamese to continue expressing their solidarity and upholding their traditional values and love for the homeland. This, he said, would contribute to their residential countries’ development and serve as a bridge for bilateral relations between Viet Nam and their respective countries.

Earlier, in Washington D.C., PM Dung attended a meeting held by the US Department of State where the two sides agreed to increase the number of Vietnamese students in US universities and colleges, especially PhD students.

He also took part at a US-Viet Nam business forum organised by the US-ASEAN Business Council in co-ordination with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he met with several leading groups of the US.

The leader called on US universities to boost co-operation with Viet Nam, particularly in science, technology, post-graduate studies and human resource training.

Following the forum, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in the education sector.

Under the MoU, the two nations will encourage deeper co-operation between US and Vietnamese universities, increase the number of Vietnamese students studying at American universities and colleges, and develop training programmes for Vietnamese students.

Addressing the US-Viet Nam Business Forum, which saw the attendance of numerous leaders from the US’s foremost corporations, PM Dung said that the two nations would continue to promote their economic, trade and investment co-operation which he saw as a foundation for deepening ties in all fields.

"The Government of Viet Nam will strenuously implement its commitments to the international community and speed up the improvement of institutions and administrative reforms in a bid to create a more transparent and favourable investment environment for foreign investors, including those from the US," he said.

After attending the forum, the PM witnessed the signing of an MoU on educational co-operation between the US Department of State and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, and a letter of intent on the supply of 10 Boeing 737 planes to Vietnam.

The agreements also included a strategic partnership deal between Viet Nam Partners and the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT), and an MoU on a joint plan of Tano Capital Llc and Global C&D to invest in a tourism complex in Viet Nam’s central Quang Nam Province.

PM Dung was scheduled to attend a seminar dubbed "Education Initiative with Viet Nam" and a business forum as well as meet with leaders from US leading groups on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, President of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) Dale E. Klein and Director of the Viet Nam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety&Control (VARANSAC) Ngo Dang Nhan signed a deal on technological information sharing and nuclear safety co-operation.

USNRC and VARANSAC will exchange technological information relating to regulations on nuclear safety and impacts caused by nuclear sites on the surrounding environment. They will also conduct research programmes on nuclear safety. USNRC pledged to assist VARANSAC by providing training courses and invited them to join inspections to its nuclear reactors in the US. (VNS)