US ambassador to Vietnam says US arms manufacturers could help Vietnam build up its armed forces

HANOI – U.S. weapons producers may work with Vietnamese counterparts to assist construct up Vietnam’s armed forces, the U.S. ambassador to the southeast Asian nation stated on Thursday.

“Our aim 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,” U.S. Ambassador Mark Knapper stated at a global arms expo within the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

Vietnam is internet hosting the expo that brings collectively 250 exhibitors together with geopolitical rivals together with the U.S., China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Iran. The expo, held at Hanoi’s Gia Lam airport, continues by means of Sunday.

U.S. exhibitors embody Boeing and Textron Aviation. China is current with Norinco and Gaodu Worldwide Commerce. Iran’s protection ministry pavilion is not removed from cubicles arrange by Israeli firms Rafael Superior Protection Techniques and Israel Aerospace Industries. A variety of Russian companies are additionally in attendance together with Ukraine’s Motor Sich.

Vietnam has been attempting to extend its home arms manufacturing whereas lowering its reliance on Russia for weapon imports.

In 2022, Russia made up round 60% of all of Vietnam’s navy purchases, based on the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute. However Vietnam’s longstanding efforts to diversify its imports have been accelerated by the conflict in Ukraine. It has additionally been attempting to spice up its personal capability to make arms and displayed indigenously-made navy gear on the expo.

A key driver for Vietnam is the escalating tensions within the South China Sea, a key commerce and safety route. It a flashpoint in Asia and a fault line within the U.S.-China regional rivalry. Vietnam has been essential of China’s increasingly hostile actions within the disputed waters. Vietnam and different Southeast Asian nations have overlapping claims within the busy sea passage.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh known as the occasion “message of peace, cooperation and growth.” He was later given a tour of a navy airplane made by U.S. agency Lockheed Martin.