Myanmar and Vietnam are planning to open direct air link with the Vietnam Airlines being expected to fly Yangon by November this year, according to Vietnamese official sources Wednesday.

The plan was covered by the discussions between Myanmar Acting Prime Minister Lieutenant-General Thein Sein and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during the latter's visit to Myanmar.

The two leaders also agreed to hold the 6th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee to boost cooperation in trade, transport, communications, agriculture, healthcare, culture and oil and gas as well as education and training.

Before concluding his two-day trip in Myanmar Wednesday, Dung met with Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Senior-General Than Shwe in Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday.

During the visit, a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation between the two countries in oil and gas was also signed.

Myanmar and Vietnam had a bilateral trade volume of 75 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2006-07 which ended in March, up from 54.4 million dollars in 2005-06 with Myanmar enjoying a trade surplus. The two countries are striving to raise the volume to 100 million dollars in the present fiscal year of 2007-08 according to a decision made by the Myanmar-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee.

Dung arrived Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday for the visit as part of his introductory tours to five member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The regional tour of Dung, who was re-elected as prime minister in July this year, also covers Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei in accordance with ASEAN practices.