France open to Vietnam civil nuclear cooperation

PARIS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Monday cooperating with Vietnam over civil nuclear activity, his spokesman said.

Vietnam is planning to increase its overall power generation capacity to cope with increased demand as a result of rapid economic growth.

"The president indicated that he was open to cooperation in nuclear matters," David Martinon said after a meeting between Sarkozy and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

France is not the first country to show interest.

The United States said on Sept. 12 it had agreed to share up-to-date nuclear safety and non-proliferation practices with the communist nation's civilian power programme.

Martinon added that Sarkozy had said France would support Vietnam's candidature to the U.N. Security Council.