Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Monday afternoon, discussing issues on promoting the bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.

Khai expressed his hope that the cooperation between the two defense ministries will contribute to the peace and stability in the region and the world.

Donald Rumsfeld's visit, his first trip to Vietnam as a U.S. defense secretary, happens at the time when the two countries see active development in their relations, Khai said, adding that the two countries have recently signed a bilateral deal on Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization, and Vietnam has successfully hosted the Meeting of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Ministers Responsible for Trade.

Some activities of the United States have showed its concerns to Vietnam, he said. Late April, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates visited Hanoi. Two months earlier, Intel, the world's biggest chip maker, announced it will invest 300 million U.S. dollars to construct a semiconductor assembly and test facility in the Ho Chi Minh City, the first of its kind in Vietnam.

Donald Rumsfeld, who started the three-day trip on Sunday, praised Vietnam's cooperation on searching U.S. soldiers missing in action.

The defense secretary, who has "good meeting" with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Van Tra this morning, also said that U. S. President George W. Bush is looking forward to visit Vietnam when he attends the APEC Summit slated for November in Hanoi.

Before arriving in Hanoi, Donald Rumsfeld said one more U.S. navy ship will visit the country this summer, and that Vietnam will send local pilots to the United States for English language training.

The U.S. defense secretary also said that the United States wants to enhance its military relations with Vietnam, but has no plans to rent Vietnam's military facilities.

Talking about the bilateral relations, he said the two countries' military ties are under progress. Vietnam is an important country in the region and the United States highly appreciates the relations with it, he noted.

Vietnam is the second leg of Donald Rumsfeld's several-Asian- nation tour which also includes Singapore and Indonesia.

Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States in 1995, cooperation between the two countries has been improved rapidly, especially in the fields of politics, economy, healthcare, education, science and technology, as well as in the fields of drug trafficking and transnational crimes.

Source: Xinhua