HANOI: Vietnam needs to develop its worldwide defence cooperation to construct belief and forestall wars, its prime minister mentioned on Thursday (Dec 19), and the US mentioned it was hopeful its defence business may play a key function.
In remarks to open Vietnam’s second international arms fair, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh mentioned the expo was “a message of peace, cooperation and growth”.
The arms truthful, which is able to run till Sunday, is being held at Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, with almost 250 exhibitors from dozens of nations, together with the US, China, Russia, Britain, Iran and Israel.
Chinh mentioned Vietnam would preserve its “4 no” coverage of not taking part in army alliances, not aligning with one nation to oppose one other, not permitting overseas army bases or the usage of its territory in opposition to one other nation, and never utilizing power or the specter of it in worldwide relations.
On the sidelines of the expo, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper mentioned US defence corporations may crew up with Vietnamese counterparts in a number of areas, together with joint manufacturing and know-how transfers.
“We search to have our nice defence firms working right here with Vietnam on issues probably like joint manufacturing and technological transfers,” he informed a press convention, along with senior US defence and army officers.
“Our purpose is to make sure that Vietnam has what it must defend its pursuits at sea, within the air, on the bottom and in our on-line world,” he mentioned.
Vietnam is a significant importer of weapons, particularly from Russia, having invested for years in its defence capabilities in an unstable area the place it has clashed with China over boundaries within the South China Sea.
The US briefing was performed subsequent to a Lockheed Martin C-130 displayed on the expo. Boeing and Textron Aviation Protection are additionally current on the Hanoi expo.
Sources have informed Reuters that Lockheed Martin is in talks with Vietnam for a attainable deal on the army transport airplane.
On the briefing, Jedidiah Royal, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Protection for Indo-Pacific Safety Affairs, additionally mentioned the US coverage for the area wouldn’t change when a brand new administration takes over in Washington subsequent 12 months.
