HANOI, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will visit the United States in June to discuss with US senior officials about bilateral, regional and global issues, visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick announced here on Friday.

    "The June 21 is the day Prime Minister Phan Van Khai'll meet the President (George Bush)," the deputy secretary said in a press conference, adding that the United States and Vietnam are discussing specific activities to be made by Khai before and after the date.

    Khai, the first Vietnamese PM to visit the United States since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, is expected to touch upon suchissues as Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), human rights and security cooperation.

    Zoellick said during his meetings Vietnamese leaders Friday morning, they also talked about the local business and investment environment, US-Vietnam join efforts in combating HIV/AIDS and bird flu, religious freedom in Vietnam, child adoption, MIA (US soldiers reported missing in action in the Vietnam War), US naval ship visits to Vietnam, and security cooperation on counter-terrorism, narcotics and organized crimes.

    The Unites States strongly supports Vietnam's accession to the WTO, Zoellick said, adding that the early entry depends on not only actions of the Vietnamese government like the approval of new laws, but also bilateral negotiations with other partners.

    The United States also supports Vietnam's efforts in moving forward in a competing world economy, Zoellick stated. "Vietnam'll have ever growing influence in ASEAN (the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in coming years," he said.

    Before the press conference, Zoellick visited the Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital where houses Vietnam's biggest health care facility for HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment. During the visit, he said the United States will this year offer 25 million US dollars to Vietnam under the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a five-year initiative totaling 15 billion dollars to fight global HIV/AIDS.

    The fund will be mainly used to prevent new HIV infections, offer drugs for local patients, and care for individuals and orphans infected and affected by the disease, he said.

    While Vietnam has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates in Southeast Asia, the infection rate is now on the rise. The number of HIV carriers has soared 40 times over the past 10 years to current 241,000, according to foreign and local health experts. The country has targeted to reduce the infection rate among its 82-million population to below 0.3 percent by 2010, and keep it unchanged after 2020.

    Before arriving in Vietnam on Thursday for a two-day visit, Zoellick visited the Philippines and Thailand. He will travel to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.   Enditem