The US will continue to assist Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the war

Washington [US], March 11: At a press conference on March 10, Ms. Samantha Power, Director General of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) shared about overcoming the consequences of war, one of the important cooperation between the two countries.
Promote support for dioxin treatment
Ms. Samantha Power said, thanks to the efforts of diplomats, the two sides helped identify the remains of US and Vietnamese soldiers. At the same time, the US has also helped Vietnam handle and dispose of unexploded ordnance, and at the same time supported the cleanup of dioxins in many areas of Vietnam.
Ms. Samantha Power said that at Bien Hoa airport , American experts have been working with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense to clean up more than 500,000 m3 of dioxin -contaminated soil, which is enough to fill 200 tanks. Olympic standard swimming.
USAID has announced the results of phase 1 of the dioxin treatment project at Bien Hoa airport, according to which, the Air Defense - Air Force of Vietnam was handed over 29,383 m 2 (nearly 3 ha), equivalent to 19,320 m 3 reclaimed soil has dioxin content less than 21.5 ppt in accordance with the approved design.
Ms. Power also shared that during this visit USAID announced an additional funding of 73 million USD for the next phase of the dioxin treatment project at Bien Hoa airport. Notably, within the framework of the contract, an American environmental remediation company will design, build and operate a treatment site to clean up dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment at the airport. Phase 1 will treat more than 100,000 m3 of soil and sediment out of a total of about 500,000 m3 of dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment.
"The relationship between the US and Vietnam has grown to this point and is not easy at all. Over the years, we have spent time healing the wounds left by the war," said the General Director. USAID shared.
In addition, USAID will also double its aid to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Vietnam.
The US supports DNA technology to search for martyrs' remains
Another program in the efforts to overcome the consequences of war announced at the press conference is the "Initiative to find Vietnamese missing during the war" (VWAI). US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said that the US will bring the best and most advanced DNA technology to Vietnam, helping medical and inspection agencies in Vietnam exploit the technology to match DNA samples. discovered, in the hope of helping the Vietnamese people find their children who died in the war.
"Searching for missing military personnel is an area that we are very interested in at the moment, and the US efforts with Vietnam will continue to be strengthened in this area to be able to resolve outstanding issues. after the war," said Mr. Knapper.
In addition to sharing technology, Mr. Knapper said that the US needs to support the Vietnamese government and researchers to access data sources developed by the US , allowing information to be exploited to identify the remains of martyrs who died in the war. painting.
USAID Director General Samatha Power said the US could apply the experience accumulated in Bosnia and some African countries to its efforts to analyze DNA and find remains of service members missing during the Vietnam war. At the same time, learn from the experience in Vietnam to support other countries.
"Our relationship was built on overcoming the aftermath of a devastating war that left so much pain. It has now grown into a deep partnership with some common priorities," emphasized Ms. Power.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper