Vietnam’s economy has recovered, but still faced numerous challenges and difficulties requiring greater efforts to deal with, such as a big trade deficit, high inflation and low budget collection, said a government official.

“Vietnam and the U.S. will mark the 15th anniversary of normalizing relations in 2010 and I’m optimistic in the White House leader’s trip,” Ambassador Michalak told reporters.

The city is preparing for a colourful Tet holiday, with a sea of flowers along Nguyen Hue Avenue and streets illuminated with flower lanterns.

Vietnam’s population stood at around 83 million (2005 figure). The most popular language is Vietnamese. The country's history dates back more than 4,000 years to when the ancient Vietnamese people founded their first nation under the name “Van Lang.”