US commerce visit to Vietnam

A senior trade official from the United States will visit Vietnam today, amid signs of a further expansion in relations between the two countries.

The deputy secretary of the US Commerce Department, Robert Mallett, is the highest ranking US commerce official to visit Vietnam.

He will meet government ministers as well as business leaders in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Officials said that during his visit Mr Mallett would be taking part in events aimed at promoting economic reform.

Last month, Vietnam and the United States signed a trade deal to open up the Vietnamese market to American goods and services, and to expand Vietnam's trade privileges in the United States.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service