Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his entourage returned to Hanoion June 2, concluding the US visit from May 29-31 at the invitation ofPresident Donald Trump.

It was thefirst visit to the US by the PM in his role as head of government.

InWashington DC, PM Phuc and President Trump held talks and met the press. It wastheir first meeting since the two nations chose new leadership.

Duringtalks, the two leaders expressed their delight at the development of thebilateral comprehensive partnership in diverse areas, bilaterally andmultilaterally and agreed that there are opportunities ahead to develop tiesfurther.

Host andguest committed to developing stable, long-term, constructive and mutuallybeneficial ties for the sake of the two countries and for peace, stability,cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the world, on the basis ofcompliance with the United Nations Charter and international law, respect toindependence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the political regimes ofeach other.

They vowedto boost bilateral links in humanitarian affairs, post-war recovery,people-to-people exchange, science-technology, education-training, health careand national defence-security.

Both sidesunderscored the importance of maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea andexpressed support for peaceful settlement of disputes in line withinternational law, including respecting diplomatic and legal processes.

They alsolauded the progress of negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

Trumpstated that the US supports ASEAN’s central role, the promotion of the US-ASEANstrategic partnership and Vietnam’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) Forum 2017, saying that he looks forward to visiting Vietnamin November to attend the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.

Followingthe talks, the two sides issued a joint statement on Vietnam-US Relations.

While inthe capital, the Vietnamese leader met with US Trade Representative RobertLighthizer, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, had phone calls with four congressionalleaders and attended a banquet hosted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

In NewYork, he met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and attended aceremony celebrating Vietnam’s 40-years of UN membership.

During hisstay, the PM met and talked with business executives from NASDAQ, ExxonMobil,Coca Cola, Nike, Boeing, ASG, McKinsey, General Electrics, Murphy Oil andHilton.

Whileattending a round-table conference on Vietnam-US investment and financialcooperation and a banquet hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-ASEANBusiness Council  with hundreds of USfirms and several Vietnamese companies in attendance, the PM witnessed thesigning of 19 deals worth nearly 12 billion USD.

Meetingwith US politicians and scholars at the Heritage Foundation, the world’sleading institution on independent policy research, he delivered a keynotespeech entitled “Opportunities, challenges to peace, security, cooperation anddevelopment in Asia-Pacific and development of Vietnam-US comprehensivepartnership”. -VNA