BAGHDAD, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen
Thi Binh said here on Sunday that she was satisfied with her visit
to Iraq which resulted in the inking of several cooperation
agreements between the two countries.
   "We reached several agreements to expand bilateral trade and
economic cooperation in a way to serve the interests of both
countries," Nguyen Thi Binh told the state-run Iraq TV before her
departure from Baghdad's Saddam International Airport.
   Moreover, the two sides increased mutual trust and agreed on
ways to enhance relations of friendship and cooperation, especially
under the current circumstances, she said.
   Nguyen Thi Binh and her Iraqi counterpart Taha Yassin Ramadan
Saturday attended the signing ceremony of an agreement to enlarge
bilateral trade volume and expand cooperation through carrying out
joint projects.
   During her meeting with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Nguyen
Thi Binh expressed sympathy toward the sanctions-hit country and
voiced opposition to any forms of military attacks against Iraq.
   Iraq has been under the stringent United Nations sanction since
its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the U.S. has warned that Iraq may
become the next target of the U.S.-led war against terror.
   Nguyen Thi Binh, heading an official delegation, arrived in the
Iraqi capital on Thursday for the visit.
   Ramadan has said that Iraq wants to promote trade with Vietnam
through the U.N. oil-for-food program, which has been in place
since 1996 and allows Iraq to sell oil and buy food, medicine and
other essentials for its 22 million people.
   "Directives have been given to ministries to grant priority to
Vietnamese companies for contracts signed within the framework of
the U.N. oil-for-food deal," said Ramadan while meeting with Hao
Thi Cao, head of a Vietnam's state-owned food company in January.
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