President Nguyen Minh Triet’s US visit begins

10:47' 18/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, at the invitation of US President George W. Bush, has just left Vietnam this morning, June 18, heading to the US. VietNamNet’s Chief Editor Nguyen Anh Tuan will go with the Vietnamese delegation to directly report on the visit. Escorts of President Triet to the US (from June 18-23, 2007) include Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Chairman of the President Office Nguyen Van Chien, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan, Minister of Post and Telematics Do Trung Ta, and Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Tam Chien. President Triet will visit the United Nations headquarters, the New York stock exchange, talk with President Bush and meet with US businessmen and overseas Vietnamese in the US. Members of the Vietnamese delegation to the US: Deputy Foreign Minister Le Van Bang, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Huong, Deputy Minister of Industry Bui Xuan Khu, Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien, Deputy Minister of Trade Nguyen Cam Tu, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Assistant to the President Do Xuan Dong, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Trung Tin, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Nong Thi Ngoc Minh, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Associations Vu Xuan Hong, Chairman of the State Securities Commission Vu Bang, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc. Before the visit, Mr Triet said: “The message that I, on behalf of the Vietnamese people, send to American investors is: Vietnam is an open, integrating and dynamically developing country. Vietnamese people expect more investment from the US. Vietnam is trying its best to create a favourable investment environment to enable US investors to do business effectively in Vietnam”. “With a population of more than 1.5 million, the Vietnamese community in the US represents half the number of Vietnamese living abroad. I highly appreciate contributions by overseas Vietnamese in the US to Vietnam, both spiritually and materialy, in the recent past. The State and people of Vietnam have always respected the profound sentiment Vietnamese people abroad have expressed toward their home country, their sense of national dignity and their wish to contribute to developing Vietnam into a rich and powerful country”. Several minutes before the aircraft brings Vietnamese officials to the US, journalist Nguyen Anh Tuan reported from the airport and made short interviews with some members of the Vietnamese delegation. At the airport, President Triet answered some questions for Reuters. He not only mentioned economics issues but also human rights. After the official interview, he directly asked the reporter in English about his time in Vietnam and his feelings about the country. Asked about his feelings, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Le Dung expressed his worry when he is a member of the organising board of the trip. “This is a very important trip, which follows the visit in 2005. The country has changed greatly and has had a new position in the international arena. I’m very happy but I’m worried as well when I bear the responsibility of an organiser,” Mr Dung said. “I hope that with great efforts to prepare for the trip, it will be a success and contribute to promoting deeper, wider, more stable and effective relations between Vietnam and the US,” Mr Dung added. This flight that brings Vietnamese officials to the US has a special chief pilot: Nguyen Thanh Trung, who highjacked an aircraft to bomb the Independence Place in the former Saigon City (now HCM City) in the past and drove the aircraft bringing the first Prime Minister of united Vietnam to the US 30 years after the Vietnam War. “This is a very important flight. The previous time I brought the Prime Minister and this time the President to the US. Both of the flights are very important so I have to prepare very carefully for the trip,” the pilot said. “Each time going to the US I have a special feeling but the feeling is different each time. Today we go in peace and independence. Our position has been different and we go to the US in a different position,” he added. Meanwhile, Tran Trong Hieu, General Director, member of the Board of Directors of the IDJ Finance Company, said: “I’m happy and self-confident. I can tell US partners that Vietnam is now a good opportunity of investment”. In 2005 a Vietnamese Prime Minister (Phan Van Khai) came to the US to dispel the final remains of the past so that the US and American people can understand a new Vietnam, which is no longer at war and no longer special in the mind of American people, but a country on the road of integration. Two years later, a President of Vietnam will bring to the US a new story, new images of Vietnam, a new member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is self-confident and equal in the race of time and a nation that is full of aspiration. VietNamNet