U.S. President Barack Obama is set to lay out more of his plan for a stronger alliance with Vietnam on Tuesday, after scrapping an arms ban that was the last big hurdle between two countries drawn together by concern over China's military buildup.

The removal of a vestige of the American war in Vietnam came following the U.S. worries about Beijing's reclamation of islands in the East Vietnam Sea and deployment of advanced radars and missile batteries in the disputed region.

In a joint news conference on Monday with Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang, Obama said the decision to end the embargo was about the changing dynamic in ties and "not based on China".

In a statement late on Monday, Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong spoke of the importance of building relations of mutual respect while "not interfering in each other's internal affairs".

Trade push

Obama will give a speech in Hanoi about the development of relations since normalization in 1995 and will champion his signature TPP, which would remove tariffs within a 12-nation bloc worth a combined $28 trillion (£19.34 trillion) of gross domestic product.

Vietnam's manufacturing and export-led economy is seen as the biggest TPP beneficiary. Annual U.S-Vietnam trade has swelled from $450 million when ties were normalized to $45 billion last year, and Washington is a big buyer of Vietnam's televisions, smartphones, clothing and seafood.

The TPP is not a done deal, with opposition expected in Washington amid concerns about competition and a loss of U.S. jobs. Obama said he was confident the trade pact would be approved by legislators and he had not seen a credible argument that the deal would dent American business.

Obama will on Tuesday fly to Ho Chi Minh City, the country's commercial hub.

He will meet young entrepreneurs at one of the co-working spaces that host Vietnam's budget tech startups, which have been receiving attention from angel investors and Silicon Valley funds.

Obama spoke of a U.S. intention to work more closely in defence areas with Vietnam, which is keen to build a deterrent against China. Vietnam and the United States last year held coastguard and humanitarian training exercises.

Washington has longstanding defence alliances in the region with the Philippines, which is also at odds with China, and Thailand, and organizes annual war games with both.

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