~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

Year :      [2005]      [2004]      [2003]      [2002]      [2001]      [2000]      [1999]      [1998]      [1997]

Vietnam PM to visit US from June 19 to 25

HANOI - Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will visit the United States from June 19 to 25 at the invitation of President George W. Bush, state television said, quoting a foreign ministry statement. "It will be the first visit to the United States by a Vietnamese head of government" since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the statement said.

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said in Hanoi earlier this month that Khai would meet Bush on June 21. Khai's visit will reciprocate the historic trip in 2000 of then-US president Bill Clinton.

Vietnam next year hosts the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) forum, a gathering normally attended by top regional leaders including the US president. The two countries will celebrate on July 11 the 10th anniversary of diplomatic ties. In the early years of their formal relationship, the US was preoccupied with the search for the bodies of Americans deemed missing in action from the war. Today the focus is on burgeoning trade ties.

Since the signing of their Bilateral Trade Agreement in December 2000, two-way trade has rocketed from 1.5 billion dollars in 2001 to seven billion dollars in 2004, according to the American Chamber of Commerce. US approval is crucial for Hanoi's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Vietnam hopes to join the body as soon as possible but is aware it still needs to make significant concessions.

The United States notably wants Vietnam to open up several sectors to foreign investment and to overhaul its judiciary. Human rights are also a contentious issue. Vietnam was classified by the US State Department last year as one of the "countries of particular concern" in matters of religious freedom. Highly-active anti-Vietnam lobbies, including members of the Vietnamese diaspora, routinely attack the communist regime for its hard line on dissent or repression of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.

Agence France Presse - May 27, 2005.