Air Force One touched down in Hanoi just after 9:30pm local time
(2.30pm GMT) on Sunday, the start of a three-day trip in which he will meet
Vietnam's communist leadership.
Mr Obama met
Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and congratulated him on the
"extraordinary progress" Vietnam had made.
"Whether we are talking about commercial and economic ties
or military-to-military consultations or humanitarian work or our legacy of war
issues... Across the board what we've seen is increased cooperation for the
benefit of both our peoples," he said.
Mr Obama is also
due to meet Vietnam's prime minister and the country's de facto leader Nguyen Phu
Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party.
He is expected to stress improving relations with the emerging
nation, as both countries look to push trade and check China's growing
assertiveness.
A major talking
point will be the lifting of a US arms embargo, a last vestige of the
decade-long war between the two nations.
Few countries
have seen such a dramatic turnaround in their relations since intense
reconciliation efforts, led by Mr Obama's Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton.
Mr Clinton became the first post-war president to visit Vietnam
in 2000.
The Obama
administration now sees the country as a vital plank in America's much vaunted
pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam's
leadership hopes to strengthen ties with the US, particularly as it argues with
Beijing over disputed waters.
