The meeting was held on the sidelines of the High-Level General Debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the US.
The top leader stressed that more than half a century after the war, Vietnam and the US have together overcome past pains,  steadily building trust to elevate bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and establishing a model in international relations. In this journey, post-war remediation stands not only as a practical field of cooperation but also as a vivid symbol of compassion, tolerance, and a shared resolve to heal historical wounds, build trust, and look toward the future.

He highly valued the goodwill and efforts of the US government, organizations, businesses, and people in supporting Vietnam to overcome the consequences of war, particularly in searching for, recovering, and identifying the remains of fallen soldiers. He acknowledged the active and proactive role of the USABC in mobilizing the US  business community to contribute resources, equipment, technology, and technical expertise to the VWAI, as well as the active role of the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University in researching and analyzing documents.

Expressing deep appreciation for US veterans who, despite advanced age, continue to return to Vietnam to share memories and provide information regarding the burial sites of Vietnamese soldiers, the Party and State leader affirmed that Vietnam will continue to cooperate fully with the US in searching for US servicemen missing in action, just as it has done for over half a century. This demonstrates the humanitarian spirit, profound sentiment, and consistent policy of Vietnam and the US in healing the wounds of war.             

Sharing Vietnam's ongoing efforts, Party General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that searching for, recovering, and identifying the remains of fallen soldiers is a major and unwavering policy of the Party and State, serving as a political task and sacred responsibility toward contributors to the revolution, families of fallen soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of families waiting for information about their loved ones.

Each set of remains found and each identity confirmed represents not only the return of a son to his homeland but also solace to families who have carried their grief and longing across generations. Currently, Vietnam still has about 175,000 missing soldiers whose remains have yet to be found, and nearly 300,000 graves lacking identification information.

As the "time window" gradually narrows, historical witnesses grow sparser, battleground vestiges constantly change, and many skeletal remains degrade over time, the leader noted that utilizing US -archived documents and applying next-generation gene sequencing (NGS) technology is profoundly meaningful as the "500-day-and-night campaign to step up the search, recovery, and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains" is being accelerated  nationwide. This is a race against time, yet also a journey of conscience, responsibility, and humanity to bring more fallen soldiers back to their homeland and families.

Looking toward the 80th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947- July 27, 2027), the top leader asked the USABC to play its bridging role by mobilizing member enterprises and the US  private sector to share documents, information, and memorabilia for the search efforts. He also urged support for enhancing DNA testing capacity, focusing on providing NGS systems, specialized supplies, and chemicals, thus enabling Vietnamese laboratories to operate at full capacity.

Representatives of the USABC and US enterprises reported to the top leader on the results and implementation directions of the VWAI. The business community has mobilized equipment, technology, and financial resources, coordinating with the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University to collect, digitize, verify, and share wartime documents, while supporting capacity building in data management, searching, DNA profiling, and identifying missing Vietnamese soldiers.

Affirming the profound humanitarian and reconciliation significance of the initiative, the USABC pledged  to continue its core role by mobilizing participation from technology enterprises, the private sector, researchers, and US veterans, thereby helping more Vietnamese families find information about their loved ones, healing the wounds of war, and consolidating trust and bilateral relations.

Top leader’s address at high-level general debate of UNGA 81

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam delivered an important address at the high-level general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York on September 22 (local time).

Top Vietnamese leader makes suggestions for managing global change at UNGA 81

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam has proposed four major orientations to steer and manage change so that competition does not turn into confrontation, differences do not lead to conflict, and scientific – technological progress does not create new divisions.