The World Bank has urged the Vietnamese government to further liberalise its economy.

The bank's representative in Vietnam, Andrew Steer, said the country needed to open up its private sector if it wants to reduce poverty and absorb tens of thousands of new workers into the labour force each year.

Mr Steer was speaking after international donors, foreign investors and Vietnamese business leaders met the Communist government to discuss the country's economic reform process.

The meeting comes ahead of the World Bank's annual gathering in Paris next Monday of foreign donors who are expected to discuss new aid to Vietnam.