(VOVworld)- Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong has recently toured the States of Illinois and Missouri to seek increased support for Vietnam-US economic and trade ties. The diplomat delivered a speech at a plenary session of the Illinois House of Representatives, highlighting the bright prospect of Vietnam-US relations in economics, trade, and investment, especially when the two are joining in negotiations on the trans- Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). He then met and talked to executives, lecturers and students of Illinois University , answering their questions relating to recent developments in the Asia-Pacific, the East Sea , along with questions about the two countries’ ties.

During his meeting with Congressman Vicky Hatzler and Missouri’s agricultural officials, the ambassador voiced pleasure at the House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee voting for the abolishment of the catfish monitoring program, proposed by Hatzler, to remove non-trade barriers on Vietnam’s exported tra and basa to the US.