881View
2m 32sLenght
7Rating

Ambassador Laura Kennedy visits Hanoi, Vietnam (October 20-21, 2014) I’m here in Vietnam as part of a trip to SE Asia. We are here because we want to highlight U.S. support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (the IAEA’s) Technical Cooperation and Peaceful Uses Initiative to share the benefits of nuclear technology around the world. The IAEA established the Peaceful Uses Initiative in 2010 to provide more support for the benefits of nuclear technology in a wide range of areas – health, agriculture, industry, power, and so on. It’s really an extraordinary range. Now, the United States stepped up to the challenge and donated $50 million dollars and challenged others to raise an additional $50 million dollars for peaceful uses. Since then, we have 18 partners who have joined us to raise a total of $77 million, but we want more partners. While I was here in Vietnam, among other things, I visited the Military Hospital 108 to see firsthand what Vietnam is doing with the IAEA to use nuclear medicine to fight cancer. While I was here, I also had the pleasure of meeting with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Science and Technology and I was able to announce to them that we are funding yet another program in Vietnam under this initiative – this one is to develop new rice crops that will better be able to withstand the challenges of climate change. This initiative, by the way, is within the framework of the Lower Mekong Initiative, which was established in 2009 by Hillary Clinton with her counterparts in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand for enhanced cooperation in the areas of health, education, environment, and infrastructure. I really applaud the work that Vietnam is doing in cooperation with the IAEA and the Peaceful Uses Initiative and directly with the U.S. You can learn about the IAEA programs at IAEA.org and you can learn about what the U.S. is doing by liking our Facebook page at Facebook.com/usunvie or follow us on Twitter: @usunvie.