NEW YORK -- Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet vowed Wednesday to further open the communist country's economy as he tried to woo U.S. companies with promises of incentives and opportunities.
Triet was speaking to business leaders at the Asia Society in New York on a trip that marks the first visit to the United States by a postwar Vietnamese head of state.
The United States is Vietnam's largest export market and two-way trade between the two countries is now $9.7 billion, 12 years after the normalization of diplomatic ties.
"Vietnam will continue to open its economy and integrate more into the world economy," Triet said, adding the country would do whatever was necessary to meet its commitments to the World Trade Organization, which it joined in January.
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"Vietnam's laws, if they are different from the WTO rules, will be amended," he said through a translator. "We're also working hard to improve the investment climate, to be more conducive to foreign investors."
Triet said he wanted to attract U.S. investment in the high-tech sector and that Vietnam was offering incentives to investors in infrastructure.
Triet is due to meet President Bush in Washington Friday for talks he said would focus on trade, investment and economic cooperation.
He said he would be seeking assurances the United States would deal "more equally and fairly" with Vietnamese companies trying to export to the United States.
Triet said he would also discuss with Bush the lingering effects of wartime "agent orange" sprayed by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces to defoliate jungles used by communist troops.
The meeting was interrupted briefly by a guest who stood up and shouted for the release of a detained political activist.
Differences with the United States over human rights go back years but have come to a head after about 20 political activists were detained or put on trial since Vietnam hosted an Asia-Pacific summit last November.
"If they violate the laws, they will be punished," Triet said. "Recently, Vietnam has dealt with these people that violated the law of Vietnam, not because of their political opinions."
Triet is the first president to visit the United States, Vietnam's former enemy, since the war ended in 1975 and the communists reunited the country. In 2005, then-Prime Minister Phan Van Khai visited Washington. Two U.S. presidents have been to Hanoi, Bill Clinton in 2000 and Bush last November.
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