Vietnam should join a U.S.-initiated trans-Pacific partnership to boost trade and competitiveness, a U.S. trade official said.

The trans-Pacific partnership (TPP) will help bolster U.S.-Vietnam ties and increase Vietnam's competitiveness in the global economy, said deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis.

"Negotiating of the TPP will help both Vietnam and the U.S. to increase the exports," he said at a news briefing in Hanoi after talks with Vietnamese government officials and lawmakers on trade issues.

The TPP, a scheme announced by U.S. President Barack Obama during his trip to Asia last November, is aimed at setting up a broad-based regional pact.

U.S.-Vietnam trade value has grown 15-fold to $15.4 billion in 2009 from $1 billion in 2001, Marantis said.

The United States is now Vietnam's most important market and the Southeast Asian country is the 17th largest market for U.S. agricultural exports.

Marantis gave no timeframe for negotiations by the two sides.

"We will be working very hard on various issues in the TPP and as we continue to make progress we will have a better sense of how long it will take," he said. (Reuters)