They discussed the role of grassroots-level organisations in mitigating the destructive impact of war and fostering reconciliation.

They spoke highly of the contributions that veterans’ agencies have made to address the impact of Agent Orange/dioxin and the role of Vietnamese veterans in helping heal the wounds of war. They also underlined the need to boost cooperation between enterprises through people-to-people exchanges.

US participants said the Vietnamese community in the US has contributed a great deal to the promotion of relations between the two nations.

Both sides also discussed measures to increase Vietnam-US trade and investment ties in the future.

The talks were jointly organised by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the Vietnam War Veterans’ Association of Vietnam (VWVA) and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).