HANOI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is to make an official visit to Vietnam on Jan. 18-21 to discuss with Vietnamese officials bilateral and global issues, local newspaper Young People reported on Friday.

    Negroponte and Vietnamese officials will review the Vietnam-U.S. relations and explore measures to boost bilateral ties in the coming time, the newspaper quoted the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam as saying.

    Before becoming the U.S. State Department's No. 2 official, Negroponte was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Iraq.