On September 23, General Secretary and President To Lam met with the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) and US businesses, and listened to a report on the Vietnam War Abandoned Persons Searching Initiative (VWAI).
General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that more than half a century after the war, Vietnam and the United States have together overcome the pain of the past, gradually building trust, bringing the relationship between the two countries to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and becoming a model in international relations.
In that journey, cooperation to overcome the consequences of war is not only a practical field of cooperation, but also a vivid symbol of compassion, tolerance and determination to jointly heal historical wounds, build trust and look towards the future.
The General Secretary and President affirmed that Vietnam continues to fully cooperate with the US in searching for missing US soldiers in the war as in the past half century, showing the spirit of humanity, affection and consistent policies of Vietnam in joining the US to heal the wounds of war.
General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains is a major and consistent policy of the Party and State; it is a political task, a sacred responsibility for people with meritorious services, relatives of martyrs and hundreds of thousands of families who have been waiting anxiously for information about their loved ones. Currently, Vietnam still has about 175,000 remains of martyrs that have not been found and nearly 300,000 martyrs' graves that have not been identified.
In the context of the "window of time" gradually closing, historical witnesses becoming increasingly sparse, battlefield traces constantly changing and many sets of remains degraded over time, the General Secretary and President said that the exploitation of documents preserved by the US and the application of new generation gene sequencing technology (NGS) is a very meaningful work at a time when the "Operation 500 days and nights to promote the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains" is being strongly implemented nationwide. This is a race against time, but also a journey of conscience, responsibility and humanity, aimed at bringing more children who have sacrificed to return to their homeland and families.
Towards the 80th Anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day (July 27, 1947 - July 27, 2027), the General Secretary and President requested USABC to promote its role as a bridge, mobilizing member businesses and the US private sector to share documents, information, and artifacts to serve the search; and at the same time support improving DNA testing capacity, focusing on providing NGS systems, specialized supplies and chemicals for Vietnamese laboratories to operate at maximum capacity.
Representatives of USABC and US businesses reported to the General Secretary and President on the results and orientations for VWAI implementation. The business community mobilized equipment, technology and finance, coordinated with the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Archives to collect, digitize, verify and share wartime documents; supported improving data management capacity, searching, DNA testing and identifying Vietnamese soldiers missing or missing in the war.
USABC is committed to continuing to promote its core role, mobilizing the participation of technology businesses, the private sector, researchers and US veterans, contributing to helping more Vietnamese families find information about their loved ones, heal war wounds, and strengthen trust and relations between the two countries.
