$500 million to boost U.S. exports to Vietnam

$500 million to boost U.S. exports to Vietnam    The U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Vietnamese government agreed this week to a $500 million financing facility to increase sales of U.S. equipment and services to Vietnam for high-priority infrastructure projects, backed by Ex-Im Bank financing.
   “This agreement is a continuation of the increasingly close ties that have been established between our countries starting in 1995,' Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg said in a statement. 'It expresses our readiness to help finance Vietnam’s infrastructure development in key sectors such as communications, transportation including highway and rail projects, renewable energy and other types of power, wastewater treatment, and medical equipment and services.”
   Ex-Im Bank opened in Vietnam for short- and medium-term financing in 1998 and expanded the relationship in subsequent years with new agreements. A Framework Guarantee Agreement with the State Bank of Vietnam facilitated the issuance of Vietnamese government guarantees so that Vietnamese buyers could obtain U.S. goods and services with Ex-Im Bank support. A Project Incentive Agreement between the governments of the two countries supported limited-recourse project finance transactions in Vietnam, where repayment is based on project revenues rather than a guarantee from the national government.
   The Vietnamese and U.S. governments passed a Bilateral Trade Agreement in December 2001. In December 2006, Vietnam gained Permanent Normalized Trade Relations with the United States, and in January 2007, Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization.