Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Dec. 15 (VNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung headed a government delegation on a visit to San Francisco on Dec. 13 and 14.

This is the last leg of his five-day official visit to the United States, which also included in New York and Washington.

During his stay in San Francisco, Deputy PM Dung met with Mayor Willy Brown and attended a seminar on prospects for Viet Nam-U.S. economic and trade ties. He also visited the telecommunications company, Intel, in the Silicon Valley.

In their meetings with Deputy PM Dung, leading officials of San Francisco and the business circle in California expressed keen interest in cooperation with Viet Nam, particularly in trade and commerce. They also expressed San Francisco's wish to expand cooperation relations with Ho Chi Minh City of Viet Nam in order to make use of the advantages of the city and the state in which a large number of overseas Vietnamese live.

Deputy PM Dung together with Mayor W. Brown, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia and General Director of Viet Nam Airlines Nguyen Xuan Hien attended a Dec. 13 ceremony inaugurating a representative office of Viet Nam Airlines in San Francisco.

The Mayor of San Francisco said he hoped that a direct air route linking his city with Viet Nam would be opened soon.

The inauguration of the rep. office, together with the signing of a contract on Viet Nam's purchase of Boeing 777s from the U.S., mark a new stage of cooperation between the two countries in civil aviation and the development of the two countries' economic and trade ties.--VNA