Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his delegation left Washington DC on April 15 after attending the Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of US President Barack Obama.

Before leaving Washington DC, PM Dung met Democratic Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Republican Senator Richard Lugar, a senior member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

PM Dung highlighted the great contributions the US Congressmen have made to promote the relationship between Vietnam and the US, especially as both countries are preparing to celebrate 15 years of diplomatic ties.

Both host and guests expressed their delight that the relationship between both countries has developed well to become a proactive and constructive partnership of multi-faceted cooperation of mutual benefit and respect.

PM Dung proposed that the senators persuade the US Administration and Congress to soon grant the Generalised Preference System (GPS) to Vietnam, recognise Vietnam’s market economy status and abolish unfair trade barriers and anti-dumping tariffs on commodities imported from Vietnam.

He also asked the senators to support bilateral cooperation in education-training, and in addressing climate change and rising sea levels.

Later the same day, PM Dung phoned former US President Bill Clinton and received officials from the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin and the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association in the US.

On the evening of April 15 (local time), PM Dung and his delegation are scheduled to arrive in Argentina, beginning an official visit to the second largest country in South America at the invitation of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner./.