Hanoi, March 8:

A US business delegation on Wednesday voiced support for Vietnam joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as executives from 21 American companies started a visit to the communist country.

Vietnam, which is now negotiating WTO membership, has received recent boosts to its dynamic economy as corporate giants including the world’s leading chipmaker Intel decided to set up plants here.

“Vietnam has recently been called the new frontier of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” said US-ASEAN Business Council president Matthew Daley ahead of the tour of business hub Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

“I believe that our mission’s large contingent of companies is a reflection of the business opportunities Vietnam has to offer in the ASEAN region. “Vietnam’s accession to the WTO is of enormous significance, and our companies look forward to it,” he said in a statement.

The trade mission of more than 40 senior executives represents US companies including aviation giant Boeing, financial services firm Citigroup, parcel delivery company FedEx and entertainment giant TimeWarner.

They are scheduled to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan as well as other senior officials during the four-day trip.

Vietnam, America’s former enemy which started market reforms in 1986, has seen export-led annual economic growth of 7 to 8 per cent in recent years and is increasingly considered an alternative investment destination to China.

Foreign companies in Vietnam are still challenged by corruption, red tape and poor infrastructure but attracted by an educated low-wage workforce and comparatively low land prices and shipping costs, analysts say.

To enter the world trade body, the communist nation still needs deals with the United States, Mexico, Dominica and Honduras.

The hardest part is to convince Washington to sign a deal. Analysts have said the two countries would have to sign an agreement very soon to make it possible for the US Congress to vote early in the year and so avoid a potentially sensitive vote just a few months before November elections.