New York (VNA) - 🎀Party General Secretary and President To Lam received Senator Chris Coons, a democrat and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programmes, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics as part of his US trip on September 25 (local time).

The top Vietnamese leader showed his assessment of the special relationship between Vietnam and the US, considering it a model of efforts to heal and build post-war relations. With the upgrade of the bilateral ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Vietnam-US relationship has truly entered a new chapter, he said, noting that for the relationship between the two countries to reach the level it has today, Vietnam highly appreciates the great contributions of the US Congress as well as “icebreakers” such as late Senator John McCain, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator John Kerry, in healing and promoting the two countries' relations. Lam affirmed that Vietnam consistently pursues the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of external ties, being a friend, a reliable partner, and an active and responsible member of the international community; and especially attaches importance to its development and growth goals in the new era. He said he is pleased to acknowledge the positive results in implementing the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework over the past year, and hoped that the US Congress will continue to support the strong and stable development of the new partnership framework. Looking forward to the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2025, Lam said he hopes the two sides will continue to proactively and effectively implement the Joint Statement on upgrading the Vietnam - US relationship in 2023, especially the US continues to exchange and coordinate to soon recognise Vietnam's market economy status; closely cooperate with Vietnam to jointly make positive and responsible contributions to the common work of the international community, and respond to global issues. For his part, Coons, who is also member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, affirmed that the US considers Vietnam a leading partner in the region, and it is interested in strengthening the bilateral relations. He also expressed his joy at the upgrading of the relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the substantial progress made in implementing this relationship framework in recent times, including enhancing exchanges and meetings between the legislative bodies of the two countries. This is an important foundation for the two sides to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation in all channels and fields, including new potential areas such as clean energy, liquefied natural gas (LNG), digital transformation, high technology, environmental protection, climate change response, he stated. He pledged to continue to promote the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework; and uphold the tradition left by previous generations of senators, especially in cooperation to overcome post-war aftermath. Lam took the occasion to express his sincere thanks for the timely support of the American people for the Vietnamese people in their efforts to overcome severe consequences caused by the recent super typhoon Yagi./.