HANOI, March 17 (Reuters) – SpaceX, Netflix and Boeing are among the many firms becoming a member of the “biggest-ever” U.S. enterprise mission to Vietnam subsequent week to debate funding and gross sales alternatives within the booming Southeast Asian nation, the organiser mentioned.

Greater than 50 firms, together with defence, pharmaceutical and tech corporations, will take part within the mission organised by the US-ASEAN Enterprise Council, an trade physique, based on a listing seen by Reuters.

The delegation is an indication of rising curiosity within the world manufacturing hub, which is benefiting from a shift away from China amid Sino-U.S. commerce friction.

Vietnam, with a inhabitants of 100 million individuals, additionally has a rapidly-growing client market as its center class expands.

“That is the biggest-ever mission in Vietnam,” mentioned Vu Tu Thanh, the US-ASEAN Enterprise Council’s consultant within the nation, noting that the physique had been organising these occasions for 3 many years.

Streaming large Netflix (NFLX.O), which Reuters final month reported was planning to open an workplace in Vietnam, is among the many firms becoming a member of the journey. Netflix didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Aerospace producers Boeing (BA.N), Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Bell (TXT.N) will maintain conferences with state-owned Vietnamese defence procurement firms, Thanh advised Reuters, including that it was the primary time in a few decade that safety corporations had determined to hitch the annual mission to Vietnam.

In December, the identical firms held talks with Vietnamese authorities officers in regards to the potential sale of helicopters and drones, because the nation seeks new suppliers and the Ukraine battle strains the capabilities of Russia, for many years Vietnam’s major army associate.

“Helicopters is without doubt one of the issues the businesses hope to promote to the Vietnamese,” Thanh mentioned, though he cautioned that defence offers took time to be accomplished and no speedy breakthrough was anticipated.

Boeing mentioned in a press release that its discussions with officers would concentrate on its rising partnership with Vietnam and methods to strengthen the nation’s aviation and defence capabilities.

Lockheed Martin and Bell didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Nearly all of the businesses becoming a member of the enterprise mission have already got a enterprise or manufacturing presence in Vietnam, together with Apple (AAPL.O), Coca-Cola (KO.N) and PepsiCo (PEP.O), Thanh mentioned, with some planning to develop it.

Some firms are additionally coming to get a greater sense of the political scenario after current turmoil within the Communist-Social gathering led nation, together with the resignation of the president in January, Thanh added.

Individuals can have conferences with Vietnam’s high political and regulatory management, together with with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Thanh mentioned some firms had been concerned with Vietnam as a producing hub and in offering providers to more and more rich customers at a time when financial development reached greater than 8% final 12 months.

Amongst them is SpaceX, which is trying to promote its satellite tv for pc web providers to Vietnam and different nations within the area, Thanh mentioned. SpaceX didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The mission may also embrace semiconductors firms, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer (PFE.N) and Johnson & Johnson (PFE.N), medical system maker Abbott (ABT.N), monetary corporations Visa (V.N) and Citibank (C.N), web and cloud firms Meta (META.O) and Amazon Internet Providers (AMZN.O), the checklist confirmed.

Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Modifying by Jamie Freed

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

Francesco Guarascio

Thomson Reuters

Francesco leads a crew of reporters in Vietnam that covers high monetary and political information within the fast-growing southeast Asian nation with a concentrate on provide chains and manufacturing investments in a number of sectors, together with electronics, semiconductors, automotive and renewables. Earlier than Hanoi, Francesco labored in Brussels on EU affairs. He was additionally a part of Reuters core world crew that coated the COVID-19 pandemic and took part in investigations into cash laundering and corruption in Europe. He’s an keen traveler, all the time eager to placed on a backpack to discover new locations.