On the morning of September 26, President Nguyen Minh Triet returned to Hanoi, successfully concluding his US tour for the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the second ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting in New York

The participation of representatives from 192 UN member countries, including 140 heads of state and government and leaders from international organisations, showed the special significance of this UN Summit as well as the attention and responsibility of the international community for humankind’s future against a background of current global difficulties.

Concerning the summit’s outcomes, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said all countries and international organisations agreed that progress has been made in carrying out the MDGs, which are targeted to be achieved by 2015.

The progress recorded in recent times has helped improve people’s lives in many countries, especially those in poor countries. Countries shared their experiences to help each other fulfill the MDGs by 2015 and pledged to support the international community in implementing these goals.

The participants approved an MDG action programme through 2015 which underlines the need for all nations to adopt appropriate policies, promote international cooperation and assistance, and draw up specific measures for each goal.

A Vietnamese delegation led by State President Nguyen Minh Triet expressed its commitments and support for the MDGs.

In his speeches at the plenary session and round-table discussion on sustainable development, President Triet shared Vietnam’s experiences in agricultural development and poverty alleviation. Vietnam is recognised by the international community as a leader in implementing the MDGs.

Mr Triet also gave his opinions on the international community’s priorities to promote peace, maintain stability and provide favourable conditions for developing countries to create development plans for the next five years at national and international levels.

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon highly appreciated Vietnam’s determination in implementing the MDGs, together with its great contributions to the UN, such as deploying the “one UN” model to improve the organisation’s operation.

African countries were particularly interested in Vietnam’s experiences in agricultural development as this has been Vietnam’s strong point during the implementation of the MDGs.    

Vietnam also contributed to creating the meeting’s last document, adding content related to protecting peace, using common sources of water and widening South-South cooperation that many countries supported.

Mr. Minh emphasised that Vietnam’s contributions were praised strongly by the UN, developed countries and partners.      

Helping to strengthen ASEAN-US relations

The second ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting in New York at the invitation of US President Barack Obama showed ASEAN’s important role in US foreign policy.

Pham Quang Vinh, head of the ASEAN Vietnam Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) delegation, said the meeting focused on promoting cooperation between ASEAN and the US in many aspects, prioritising trade and economic relations.  

In addition, the meeting discussed US measures to support ASEAN in building a community and to back ASEAN’s important role and reinforce connections in the organisation. 

The two sides highly appreciated the importance of ASEAN-US ties; the US also committed to strengthen cooperation with countries in the lower Mekong River region through annual meetings of their foreign ministers.

Both ASEAN and US leaders agreed to hold a 3^rd high-ranking meeting in 2011 on the occasion of the East Asia Summit and approved terms on establishing groups and proposing measures to intensify cooperation between ASEAN and the US.

President Nguyen Minh Triet co-chaired the second ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting with US President Barack Obama and stressed the necessity of reinforcing cooperation based on mutual respect and benefit.

He noted that, apart from trade and economic relations, ASEAN and the US still had many fields of mutual concern, such as coping with natural disasters, epidemics and climate change. Both sides need to promote dialogue, mutual understanding and strengthen high-level exchanges.

At the conclusion of the meeting, delegates issued a joint communiqué to raise ASEAN-US ties to a new level.

President Nguyen Minh Triet’s attendance at the second ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting as ASEAN chairman confirms Vietnam is active, positive and responsible for boosting ASEAN-US ties in many fields to maintain peace, stability and cooperation, dealing with global challenges effectively and promote the Vietnam-US relationship.