USTDA Advances U.S.-Vietnam Commercial Relations During Presidential Visit

News Release: May 24, 2016 Media Inquiries: Anna Humphrey | (703) 875-4357

HANOI, Vietnam - During his trip to Vietnam this week, President Obama witnessed signings for activities that have received project preparation support from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. USTDA also announced new activities that will promote infrastructure development in Vietnam and strengthen bilateral commercial ties. President Obama witnessed a signing between General Electric (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade to add 1 gigawatt of wind power to Vietnam's grid by 2025. Cong Ly Construction - Trade - Tourism Company Ltd. and Black & Veatch Corporation (Overland Park, Kan.) also formalized their commitment to work together on the third phase of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm. Black & Veatch will conduct the USTDA-sponsored feasibility study that will help Cong Ly add up to 300 megawatts of generation capacity. USTDA's support of the Phu Cuong and Bac Lieu wind projects, which together are designed to contribute 470 megawatts to Vietnam's power grid, advance the country's efforts to increase renewable energy production. To further support Vietnam's shift from coal-fired power generation, USTDA will sponsor a natural gas reverse trade mission to the United States in fall 2016. This visit will introduce high-level Vietnamese officials to U.S. technology and service capabilities for the construction, operation, maintenance and refurbishment of gas-fired power plants and related infrastructure.   In addition, through its Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value, USTDA announced new support for Vietnam's Public Procurement Agency. USTDA's feasibility study will develop plans for a database to track and monitor the performance of contractors who provide billions of dollars in goods and services to the Government of Vietnam each year. Once the new database is in place, public tenders in Vietnam can be awarded transparently to contractors with high performance ratings, ensuring greater quality for the Government of Vietnam. The database is a component of the Public Procurement Agency's broader e-government project. The opportunity to conduct this USTDA-sponsored feasibility study will be competed through Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). A link to the FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA's website at www.ustda.gov. Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the FBO announcement. USTDA connects U.S. businesses to infrastructure development opportunities in Vietnam's clean energy, information technology, transportation and water sectors. USTDA has built mutually beneficial partnerships between U.S. companies and Vietnamese project sponsors that have produced over $3 billion in U.S. exports to date.

About USTDA: The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies.