Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan gave a reception in Hanoi on May 18 for US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on an official visit to Vietnam.

They discussed preparations for the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s US trip scheduled for this year.

The Vice Chairwoman affirmed Vietnam’s dedication to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and asked the US to continue working with Vietnam on areas such as disarming unexploded ordnances and providing support for the victims of Agent Orange.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh received Blinken, where they reviewed the developments of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership set up in July 2013.

Blinken also stressed that the US Department of State will continue coordination with Vietnam in fruitfully realising the nine cooperative areas enshrined in the Joint Statement which was adopted in 2013.-VNA