President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) VuXuan Hong welcomed a delegation from the US Veterans of Foreign Wars(VFW) in Hanoi on March 25.

The delegation, led byJohn Biedrzycki, Senior Vice Commander-in-chief of the VFW, is on avisit to Vietnam from March 24-28.

At thereception, Hong said Vietnam and the US have seen remarkable progresssince the normalisation of bilateral diplomatic relations 20 years ago,and especially after the two countries elevated their ties to acomprehensive partnership in July 2013.

Hong said hehopes the guests’ visit will help them understand more about Vietnamand its external affairs policies and relations with the US, ultimatelyseeking orientations and fields for further cooperation.

He highly valued the VFW’s support for Vietnam and suggestedincreasing bilateral information exchanges in the search for the remainsof missing Vietnamese and US soldiers.

He alsocalled on the American organisation to persuade the US Congress toaddress the Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination and unexploded bombs andmines lingering from the war in Vietnam.

The VFW isalso expected to join humanitarian aid in Vietnam and dispatch membersfor a friendly visit to the country, he said.

Forhis part, John Biedrzycki expressed his positive impressions of thecountry, people and culture of Vietnam, saying his first ever visit toVietnam is to increase mutual understanding between the two countries,enhance Vietnam-US relations, and foster cooperation between the twogovernments in searching for missing US soldiers during war inVietnam.-VNA