HANOI, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will visit the United States on June 19-25, marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

    Phan Van Khai is the most high-ranking official to visit Washington since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

    During the trip, Khai will meet with US President George W. Bush on June 21 at the White House to discuss ways to broaden and deepen cooperation in bilateral, regional and international issues,including those on human rights, religion, security, and diplomatic cooperation. He will also meet with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and other senior US officials.

    Local analysts say Khai's visit has three main purposes.

    First, accelerating the conclusion of bilateral negotiations on Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and beefing up trade and investment ties between the two countries.

    It is very important for Vietnam to rapidly wrap up negotiations with the United States, one of the main figures in the global trade club, since an early conclusion would have certain impact on bilateral talks between Vietnam, which has ended negotiations with nine partners including the EU and Japan, and its remaining partners.

    Vietnam hopes to conclude the talks with the United States when Khai pays a visit to the country, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan has recently said.

    Right now, the two sides are focusing their negotiations on adjusting legal system, tariff reduction, and opening up service markets. The United States has asked Vietnam to implement their bilateral trade agreement, especially the regulations on opening market of services in the fields of telecommunications, energy, banking and finance.

    Many foreign experts, including chairman of the working party negotiating Vietnam's membership, Eirik Glenne, said Vietnam and its trading partners should end their bilateral talks before September if it is to meet its goal of entering the WTO by the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference late this year.

    Regarding trade, Vietnam and the United States have witnessed remarkable improvements since the taking effect of their bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in late 2001, a milestone marking the full normalization between the two countries, with two-way trade soaring to roughly 6.4 billion US dollars in 2004 from 1.4 billion dollars in 2001.

    However, the United States' recent application of anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese catfish and shrimps are slowing down the local exports, and the BTA has not created an investment boom as the two sides wished with US investors having poured over 1.3 billion dollars into Vietnam so far, ranking the 11th biggest foreign investor in the country.

    Therefore, the upcoming historic trip by Khai, to be accompanied by some 200 officials and around 70 representatives from leading Vietnamese companies, is a good chance for Vietnam to implement investment promotion and draw investment, especially in fields in which US firms have prominent strengths like high technology.

    During the visit, representatives of Vietnamese enterprises will discuss with their US partners about strengthening cooperation in the fields of coal, agriculture, service, tourism and marine, which aims to facilitate local product exports to the United States, and improve the US enterprises' understanding about Vietnamese market.

    The two sides will also sign a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation and some agreements, including those on marine, and economic and technical cooperation.

    Second, accelerating process of solving issues left by the war, including local victims of Agent Orange, mine and bomb clearance and US soldiers missing in action (MIA).

    Vietnam has actively cooperated with the United States on MIA issues, and consistently asked Washington to shoulder its responsibility for some 3 million Agent Orange victims, despite the recent dismissal by a US court of the lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies filed by victims.

    Third, strengthening military cooperation ties.

    The military relations between Vietnam and the United States, which have focused on dealing with the war's aftermath, are likely to expand to a new domain of personnel training in the coming time.     

    John Boardman, deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Hanoi, said in a forum held in the capital city early this month that a number of government-to-government deals were expected to be inked during Khai's visit, including those on military education and sea transport.

    The fact that Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra visited the United States in November 2003, and that three US navy ships arrived in Vietnam between November 2003 and April 2005 indicates gradual improvements in military cooperation between the two countries.

    From narrow dimension of cooperation on humanity, Vietnam and the United States have expanded it into such important fields as politics, economy, healthcare, education, science and technology, and most recently - military, anti-terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational crimes. The two countries are showing readiness to bring their ties to a new height towards stable and long-term cooperation. Enditem