(VOVworld) US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell has met with several senior Vietnamese officials in Hanoi to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties, particularly in economics, science and technology, education and response to climate change.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell. Photo: AFP/VNA

The Vietnamese side asked the US administration to soon recognize its market economy status, grant Vietnam the Generalized System of Preferences and lift trade barriers against Vietnamese products such as shrimp and tra and basa fish. While calling on the US to take more practical measures to address the legacy of Agent Orange/dioxin, the Vietnamese officials reiterated that Vietnam will work closely with the US and other partners in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and will increase cooperation in the Lower Mekong Initiative. Mr. Campbell said the US wants to promote cooperation with Vietnam toward strategic partnership and will increase funding for efforts to overcome war aftermath. He said the US government hopes that both countries will cooperate to remove trade barriers, soon finalize a civil nuclear cooperation agreement and join hands in the fight against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and transnational crimes. Campbell stressed US support for the settlement of disputes in the region including the East Sea issue by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the compliance with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early signing of the Code of Conduct (COC).