Vietnam, US continue to cooperate to address post-war consequences

At the event (Photo: VNA)

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien received Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam Ann Marie Yastishock in Hanoi on August 3.

Both sides pledged not to let the COVID-19 pandemic affect the progress of Vietnam – US cooperation in dealing with the consequences of bombs and mines, and toxic chemicals and dioxin left by the war.

Deputy Minister Chien appreciated the efforts made by USAID and US agencies to successfully implement joint projects in the field, highlighting examples such as the joint project on dioxin clean-up at Da Nang airport that was completed in 2018, the implementation of the first phase of another detoxification scheme at Bien Hoa airport from 2019-2025, and the building of documents for a project on improving life quality for Vietnamese living with disabilities in eight provinces hard hit by Agent Orange (AO) during the war, namely Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Kon Tum, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh.

Host and guest pledged to pool resources and accelerate the progress of the above projects. They also vowed to continue effectively implementing the nine-point MoU on cooperation in addressing bomb and mine consequences, as well as communications activities on Vietnam-US joint work in settling consequences of bomb and mine and toxic chemicals/dioxin./.