HANOI – Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will visit five Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar and Brunei – next month, the government said last Thursday.

The first official visits there by the premier, who took office last year, from August 8 to 17 will focus on the “economic, trade and investment areas,” said foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung.

Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Le Cong Phung is attending the July 29 to August 2 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines, he said.

Phung will represent Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, who the spokesman said will be busy because of a Vietnamese national assembly session. – AFP