Vietnam and the US have signed $8 billion in deals, including a massive engine contract with a Vietnamese budget carrier, VietJet.
The deals were announced during a visit by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the White House on Wednesday, a trip aimed at drumming up trade ties. Mr Phuc is the first Southeast Asian leader to visit Mr Trump’s White House.
The new deals saw Vietjet sign a 12-year engine contract worth $3.58 billion with CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric and Safran. The airline also signed a separate deal worth $1 billion with GE Capital Aviation Services in aircraft financing.
“We strongly believe that this agreement will promote economic and trade exchange between the two countries and create millions of jobs for the two peoples,” said Vietjet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who is the communist country’s first and only female billionaire.
The country’s largest low-cost carrier, Vietjet raked in $1.21 billion in revenues last year and its shares have soared since its market debut in February.
Honeywell (HON.N) also signed a $100 million deal to supply VietJet with 98 auxiliary power units for the airline's new fleet of Airbus (AIR.PA) A320 aircraft, including maintenance for 12 years.
Hilton Worldwide (HLT.N) signed a deal worth $650 million to manage a 610-room dual-branded hotel in Vietnam, while port security firm Passport Systems Inc signed a deal worth $1 billion, with $420 million in U.S. content, Commerce said.
The other new deals, signed in the sectors of hospitality, science and technology, academia and energy, come as Washington opts for bilateral agreements over sprawling free trade pacts.
Phuc told Trump the relationship had undergone "significant upheavals in history" but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners."
Source : Khmer Times | Reuters
