Oversaw Vietnam rise
Former Vietnam prime minister
PHAN Van Khai, an architect of Vietnam’s economic rise, was the country’s first prime minister to visit the United States since the war.
The official Vietnam News Agency said Mr Khai died earlier this month at his home village of Cu Chi on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. He was 84.
Mr Khai oversaw Vietnam’s fastest and most stable economic growth during his nine years in office from 1997 to his retirement in 2006.
He signed a bilateral trade agreement with the United States in 2000 and oversaw Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2006.
He paid an official visit to the US in 2005. — AP