At the reception, both leaders agreed that cooperative relations between Vietnam and the US have developed well over the past years.

Mr Nghi briefed the ambassador on Hanoi’s socio-economic developments one year after its expansion and preparation for a grand ceremony to celebrate 1000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in 2010.

For his part, ambassador Michalak expressed his thanks to the municipal authorities for creating favourable conditions for the US embassy to operate in Vietnam.

He emphasised that the year 2010 is of great significance in celebrating the 1000^th anniversary of Thang Long Hanoi and the 15^th anniversary of the normalisation of US-Vietnam relations.