By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu
HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam needs to increase its worldwide defence cooperation to construct belief and forestall wars, its prime minister stated on Thursday, and the US stated it was hopeful its defence trade might play a key position.
In remarks to open Vietnam’s second worldwide arms honest, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated the expo was “a message of peace, cooperation and development”.
The arms honest, 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 stated Vietnam would preserve its “four no” coverage of not taking part in army alliances, not aligning with one nation to oppose one other, not permitting international army bases or using its territory towards one other nation, and never utilizing pressure or the specter of it in worldwide relations.
On the sidelines of the expo, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper stated U.S. defence corporations might group up with Vietnamese counterparts in a number of areas, together with joint manufacturing and know-how transfers.
“We seek to have our great defence companies working here with Vietnam on things potentially like joint production and technological transfers,” he advised a press convention, along with senior U.S. defence and army officers.
“Our goal is to ensure that Vietnam has what it needs to defend its interests at sea, in the air, on the ground and in cyberspace,” he stated.
Vietnam is a serious 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 U.S. briefing was carried out subsequent to a Lockheed Martin (NYSE:) C-130 displayed on the expo. Boeing (NYSE:) and Textron (NYSE:) Aviation Protection are additionally current on the Hanoi expo.
Sources have advised Reuters that Lockheed Martin is in talks with Vietnam for a doable deal on the army transport airplane.
On the briefing, Jedidiah Royal, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Protection for Indo-Pacific Safety Affairs, additionally stated the U.S. coverage for the area wouldn’t change when a brand new administration takes over in Washington subsequent yr.
