vietnam usa 1nov2001

citation saigon times

Deputy PM leads trade mission to U.S.
Deputy PM Nguyen Tan Dung will lead a business mission to the U.S. from Dec. 8 to 12 to discuss measures to boost trade and investment between Vietnam and the U.S.
Dung will be accompanied by the ministers of Trade and Planning and Investment, and representatives of 70 businesses, including 27 key State-owned companies, 17 private businesses and 26 U.S. companies operating in Vietnam. He is scheduled to meet U.S. leaders and World Bank representatives in Washington on Dec. 10, followed by promotional events and business meetings in the capital, New York and Los Angeles.
The private businesses include Dong Tam Tile, Thai Tuan Textile, Trung Nguyen Coffee, Refrigeration Electrical Engineering, Binh Tien Consumer Goods Production, and others. U.S. business representatives are Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola, Ford, AIA, IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Boeing, Carrier and Caltex.
Dung and his entourage, scheduled to visit Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela Dec.1-8, will carry the trade agreement to the U.S. after it was ratified by the National Assembly.
Talking with The Saigon Times Weekly on the sidelines of the on-going NA's 10th session, Dung said the two sides may discuss the mechanism to implement the trade agreement and issues on environment, drug addition and crime prevention and others. "The visit will give businesses of the two countries opportunities to promote trade after the trade agreement takes effect," he said.
Dung also revealed that Vietnam Airlines was in talks over buying four Boeing 777s in a move to compete with other carriers on international routes to Europe and America. He said Boeing had offered the aircraft at US$140 million each. "Other carriers have agreed on this price, but we think they can lower the price given the slowdown in the world aviation following the September 11 attacks in the U.S.," he added.