President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong welcomed a delegation from the US Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Hanoi on March 25.

The delegation, led by John Biedrzycki, Senior Vice Commander-in-chief of the VFW, is on a visit to Vietnam from March 24-28.

At the reception, Hong said Vietnam and the US have seen remarkable progress since the normalisation of bilateral diplomatic relations 20 years ago, and especially after the two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive partnership in July 2013.

Hong said he hopes the guests’ visit will help them understand more about Vietnam and its external affairs policies and relations with the US, ultimately seeking orientations and fields for further cooperation.

He highly valued the VFW’s support for Vietnam and suggested increasing bilateral information exchanges in the search for the remains of missing Vietnamese and US soldiers.

He also called on the American organisation to persuade the US Congress to address the Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination and unexploded bombs and mines lingering from the war in Vietnam.

The VFW is also expected to join humanitarian aid in Vietnam and dispatch members for a friendly visit to the country, he said.

For his part, John Biedrzycki expressed his positive impressions of the country, people and culture of Vietnam, saying his first ever visit to Vietnam is to increase mutual understanding between the two countries, enhance Vietnam-US relations, and foster cooperation between the two governments in searching for missing US soldiers during war in Vietnam.-VNA