HANOI, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen TanDung said his government would do its utmost to boost relations with the United States, especially economic, trade and investment ties, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Wednesday.

    While meeting Israel Hernandez, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Promotion and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in Hanoi capital on June 17, Dung said Vietnam and the United States should foster trade and investment cooperation, suggesting the two sides signing a bilateral framework agreement on investment as soon as possible to create more favorable conditions for U.S. companies to invest in Vietnam.

    The United States currently ranks ninth among foreign investorsin Vietnam with combined capital of four billion U.S. dollars. The two-way trade stood at over 11 billion dollars last year, and 5.5 billion dollars in the first five months of this year.

    Hernandez said the rapid growth of the bilateral trade reflected U.S. businesses' high interest in the Vietnamese market, and the U.S. business delegation led by him wanted to promote trade and investment with Vietnam.

    At the meeting, U.S. business representatives said they hoped the Vietnamese government would continue to improve business environment and encourage foreign investment, particularly in the areas of the United States' strengths such as infrastructure construction, oil and gas, energy, high technology, education and training, and communications.