Vietnam, US continue to promote cooperation in overcoming consequences of toxic chemicals/dioxin

At the reception (Photo: VNA)

So said Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien during his reception for USAID Director in Vietnam Ann Marie Yastishock in Hanoi on August 3.

During the reception, the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence highly appreciated the efforts of USAID as well as the US agencies in cooperating with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense to effectively organize the implementation of programs in overcoming the consequences of bombs, mines and toxic chemicals/dioxin left after the war in Vietnam.

He highlighted 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 Naia and Tay Ninh, which was approved by the Prime Minister. In addition, a cooperation document on the communications of results of cooperation between the two sides in overcoming the consequences of mines and explosives and toxic chemicals/dioxin was also signed.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Ms. Ann Marie Yastishock agreed that in the coming time, the two sides will continue to work closely to speed up the process of overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals/dioxins and the consequences of bombs and mines after the war in Vietnam, with focus on speeding up progress and mobilizing resources for the implementation of the project on treatment of dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa Airport phase I; and well implementing the project on support to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in provinces heavily sprayed with Agent Orange/dioxin. 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./.