Vietnamese president meets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Описание: (22 Jun 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet shaking hands with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi
2. Triet sitting down and writing
3. Triet writing
STORYLINE
Vietnam's president Nguyen Minh Triet met US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington on Thursday.
Talks with US lawmakers were expected to focus on complaints of widespread human rights abuse.
On Friday, he is due to meet US President George W Bush at The White House.
Nguyen Minh Triet is the first Vietnamese president to visit the United States since the Vietnam War.
After trade talks on Thursday, he called for more US business investment in his fast-growing country.
He said his government was working hard to smooth out difficulties that some US companies had experienced while doing business in the communist-led country.
After insisting that talk of the war was now outdated, he told American business leaders that Vietnam was now a destination that could be trusted in regard to their businesses.
Triet is leading a delegation of more than one-hundred Vietnamese businessmen.
The group planned to play up negotiations to buy jets from Boeing and the signing on Thursday of a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which sometimes acts as a road map to eventual free trade negotiations.
Vietnam achieved its goal of membership in the World Trade Organisation in January.
US officials expressed hope at the time that the country had begun making progress toward turning around a dismal rights record.
Rights group say, however, that Vietnam has embarked on one of the worst crackdowns on dissidents in years.
Vietnam has arrested or sentenced at least eight pro-democracy activists in recent months, including a dissident Catholic priest who was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Vietnam does not tolerate any challenge to Communist one-party rule; it insists, however, that only lawbreakers are jailed.
In an attempt to ease misgivings in Washington, Vietnam released two political dissidents recently.
Since the two countries began a bilateral trade agreement in 2001, trade has been booming.
It reached nearly ten (b) billion US dollars (7.45 (b) billion euros) last year.
Vietnam's WTO entry is expected to lead to further US investment.

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