The U.S. President Barrack Obama will pay a trip to Vietnam next year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Vietnamese Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi late July 22.

Hillary Clinton arrived in the Southeast Asian country on July 22 for a two-day visit to boost the bilateral ties and attend the 17th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF 17) hosted by Vietnam on July 23.

“I will return Vietnam in Oct to join the 17th ASEAN Summit and to prepare for the President’s visit next year,” Clinton said, giving no further details for timetable.

Vietnam media quoted the visiting Secretary of State as saying the Obama Administration is willing to raise the relations with the communist nation to a higher level, adding that she herself wants to see the bilateral ties, set up 15 years ago by her husband President Bill Clinton, to become stronger and deeper.

Mentioning the sea issue, Hillary Clinton said the U.S. supports regional countries to seek for a long-term solution for this, emphasizing related parties firstly must comply with the signed Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the South China Sea (DOC) and international rules, the Vietnamnet online newspaper reported.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will fly to Hanoi in Oct as the current ASEAN chair hosts a defense ministers’ meeting between the bloc and Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the U.S. (ADMM+8).

President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam in 2000, the first time since the reestablishment of diplomatic ties.

Vietnamese leaders made three visits to the White House during the period, comprising Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in July 2005, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in June 2007 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in June 2008.