Foreign Minister meets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Manila

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM-59) and related meetings.

Le underscored that Viet Nam considers the U.S. as one of its most important partners and expects to work closely with the U.S. to further deepen bilateral relations towards a comprehensive, effective, substantive, and mutually beneficial manner, serving the interests of both peoples while contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

He conveyed a message from General Secretary and President To Lam to President Donald Trump, affirming Viet Nam's high regard for its relationship with the U.S. and its wish to continue advancing bilateral ties in a substantive way.

The top Vietnamese diplomat proposed that the two foreign ministries continue to play an active role in facilitating exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level visits, while maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness of bilateral dialogue mechanisms across a wide range of areas.

He reiterated Viet Nam's determination to coordinate with the U.S. to conclude negotiations on the Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade at an early date.

Le expressed confidence that the agreement would provide fresh momentum and serve as a key foundation for a more effective and stable phase of the bilateral cooperation.

The Vietnamese minister proposed that both sides should continue discussions in a positive, constructive, and goodwill-based spirit, addressing remaining differences while safeguarding the legitimate interests of each side.

Le called on the U.S. to conclude its Section 301 investigation soon with a decision that fully reflects Viet Nam's efforts and is consistent with the U.S. policy of advocating a strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous Viet Nam.

Viet Nam highly values and continues to facilitate long-term, high-quality investment and business operations by American companies in Viet Nam, said Le.

The Southeast Asian country is improving its legal framework to make it more transparent, modern, and coherent to improve the business investment environment while making market access more convenient for enterprises, noted the diplomat.

Le shared the efforts of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Vietnamese Government to intensify the search, recovery, and identification of the remains of fallen soldiers. He highly appreciated the U.S.' important support through the provision of records, information, archival materials, and DNA identification technology. The Vietnamese minister called on the U.S. to continue maintaining and expanding cooperation in this humanitarian field, while allocating appropriate resources to support these efforts.

Le affirmed Viet Nam's support for the U.S. in successfully hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit in Miami, Florida, in December this year.

Rubio, for his part, underscored that economic and trade cooperation remains a key pillar of the bilateral relationship.

He underscored the importance of maintaining close consultations between the two sides, expressing his hope that Viet Nam and the U.S. would soon conclude the Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade to create greater economic opportunities, jobs, and mutual benefits for both countries.

Secretary Rubio also agreed with Minister Le on the need for the two countries to jointly develop a comprehensive cooperation agenda covering economic and trade ties, security and defense, science and technology, education, and people-to-people exchanges. Such efforts, he said, would further advance the Viet Nam–U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership towards a more substantive and deeper manner.

The U.S. would actively participate in and support Viet Nam's successful hosting of APEC 2027, stated Rubio.

The two ministers vowed to step up collaboration in in addressing the consequences of war, including dioxin remediation, unexploded ordnance and landmine clearance, assistance for persons with disabilities, the search for U.S. service members missing in action (MIAs), as well as the search, recovery, and identification of the remains of Vietnamese fallen soldiers.

They underscored their commitment to promoting close coordination in contributing to the maintenance of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and around the world./.