The US and Vietnam signed a trade pact in 2000

VietnamNet website quoted a source as saying "Vietnam and the US reached an agreement on Vietnam joining the WTO."

The US has called the agreement, which will mean lower tariffs on its industrial and farm products being sold in Vietnam, as "very good".

The US will also help Vietnam complete WTO membership "in the near future".

'Common voice'

Other barriers that block US service providers from working in Vietnam are to be abolished, said US Trade Representative Rob Portman.

"It opens a new and growing market for American agricultural goods, services, such as financial services, and manufactured products," he said.

Mr Portman said Vietnam was aware that reform and economic liberalisation were needed to ensure its integration into the global economy.

Communist Vietnam, which has been pressing for WTO membership for a number of years, wants to join the trade body before hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in November.

US President George W Bush is expected to attend the event, and state-run VietnamNet said the two countries had reached agreement after "finding a common voice" on outstanding trade issues.

Following a trade deal Vietnam signed with Mexico last month, it then had to complete a bilateral deal with the US in order to join the WTO club.

Human rights

However one potential obstacle to a smooth accession surrounds the issue of the US Congress' attitude to Vietnam's human rights record.

Before securing entry into the WTO Vietnam must be granted permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) by Congress.

But on a visit to Hanoi in April, US House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, called on Congress to pass a deal because the "greater good" outweighed human rights concerns.

Vietnam signed a previous bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US in July 2000, five years after the two former enemies renewed diplomatic relations.

Since then Vietnamese exports to the US have grown to more than $6.5bn in 2005.