Clinton hails Vietnam trade accord

Vietnam says a landmark trade accord it's signed with the United States is an important milestone in the country's integration into the world economy.

The trade minister, Vu Khoan, said the deal created favourable conditions for Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organisation and put the seal on the normalisation of relations with Washington begun five years ago with the restoration of diplomatic ties.

He gave no explanation for Hanoi's change of heart from a year ago, when it rejected a similar deal.

Mr Khoan said the negotiations had taken so long because of the huge differences in the two countries' economic systems and development.

But the BBC south-east Asia correspondent says a big factor was the in-fighting in Vietnam between reformists and conservatives. He says Hanoi seems now to have swallowed its doubts in part because of fear that it would lose out to China, which recently won permanent trade partner status with the US.

Both the Vietnamese and Chinese agreements must be approved by Congress.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service