US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton watches as participants shake hands after General Electric signed two contracts with Vietnam during the American Chamber of Commerce reception and commercial signings ceremony in Hanoi on July 10, 2012. Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GettyImages
From WIRE REPORTS
General Electric Co. signed two deals with Vietnamese companies on Tuesday as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the nation to promote greater economic engagement.
GE will supply one steam turbine generator for Cong Thanh, a private Vietnamese company, for its 660-megawatt thermal power plant in the Nghi Son Economic Zone, in Thanh Hoa province. The project includes $36 million in U.S. export content, according to a State Department statement.
GE also will work with the Vietnamese National Power Transmission Corp. to supply electricity transmission capacitors to the company in a three-phase project valued at $50 million. The capacitors are meant to help Viet Nam increase energy efficiency and better regulate its national energy grid.
The U.S. is seeking closer economic and security ties with Viet Nam. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month became the highest-ranking American official since the Viet Nam War to visit Cam Ranh Bay, used as a base during the conflict, and Viet Nam is involved in U.S.-led talks on a nine-country Asia-Pacific trade deal.
The GE contracts will create jobs for Americans, Clinton said in remarks to an American Chamber of Commerce gathering in Ha Noi.
“These deals also translate into more jobs for workers at GE’s steam turbine plant in Schenectady, New York, and other sites around the country,” she said. “More American businesses competing here benefits Viet Nam and benefits the United States.”
Two-way trade between the U.S. and Viet Nam has grown from about $1 billion in 2001 to almost $22 billion last year, according to State Department statistics, with a 17 percent increase in exports from 2010 to 2011.
Clinton also pointed to other companies based in Viet Nam, including Imex Pan Pacific and IFB Holdings “that are bringing GAP clothing and Subway sandwiches to cities and towns all across Viet Nam.”
“That’s good for the American companies, and it’s good for the communities that attract new investments, new businesses and all the local jobs that go with them,” Clinton said.
GE first set up representative offices in Ha Noi and Sai Gon in 1993, two years before the U.S. and Viet Nam reestablished diplomatic ties. The company employs about 600 people in Viet Nam, according to its website.
GE plans to sell jet engines to Viet Nam Airlines and other regional carriers, said Stuart Dean, GE’s Southeast Asia president, in February. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company earlier this year agreed to supply engines for 230 Boeing Co. planes ordered by Indonesia’s PT Lion Mentari Airlines.
Viet Nam said last August that it’s pursuing an agreement with the United States on civilian nuclear technology and welcomed overseas assistance, potentially signaling greater access for American companies, including GE. Russia agreed to lend Viet Nam as much as $9 billion to fund the construction of the Southeast Asian nation’s first nuclear power plant.
