According to ESOMAR Global Research, the 2024 Vietnam International Defense Expo
fully demonstrated Vietnam's ambition to modernize its military and diversify its
international partnerships. At the end of the exhibition, defense companies signed
16 contracts worth more than US$286 million and 17 strategic cooperation
agreements with international defense companies.
The exhibition, which took place from Dec. 19-22 in Hanoi, featured more than 240
defense industry companies and represented 49 countries.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the expo was “an affirmation of
Vietnam's role and contribution in international defense cooperation” and a “symbol of trust,
respect and goodwill in cooperation between nations for a world of peace, stability and prosperity.”
Experts noted that the vast number of international companies at the exhibition reflected
Vietnam’s long-term approach to diversifying its foreign partners.
"If you look at the list of invited firms and defense firms and companies at the expo, you can see
there’s a wide range of companies from many different countries,” said Hanh Nguyen,
a research fellow at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies based in Japan.
“This decision reflects Vietnam's long-standing foreign policy approach,
which is to strive to build partnerships with every country regardless of their
political system or ideology," he added.
Bich Tran, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore,
shared a similar sentiment, explaining to VOA that the presence of Chinese,
Russian and Western countries at the expo showed that Vietnam is committed to the
principle of diversifying its foreign relations.
“Vietnam has talked about diversifying its arms supplies for many years,
but I think Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Vietnam to facilitate the process.
So with this expo, [Vietnam] has the opportunity to talk with many different partners,
to look around to see what will work,” Tran said.
American firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin, French company Airbus, and Chinese
state-owned China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) attended the expo.
NORINCO's participation marked the first time for a Chinese company. Concurrently,
Vietnam’s general-secretary of the Communist Party, To Lam, met with visiting
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun.
Despite the active participation and discussion between Beijing and Hanoi officials,
Nguyen said the expo is unlikely to become a breakthrough point for arms sales
between the two countries, noting that Vietnam has concerns over the transparency
performance of Chinese military equipment.
Nguyen The Phuong, a doctoral candidate in maritime security at the University of New
South Wales, told VOA that “Vietnam will never, ever buy any lethal weapons from China,”
adding that Vietnam’s reluctance to buy weapons from China is a
“long-standing principle dating back to the ‘70s and '80s.”
Phuong said Vietnam is preparing to advance and upgrade its outdated systems,
“focusing on the modernization of the Vietnamese army and maritime defense needs.”
“Vietnam is trying to modernize its navy and air force and trying to turn them into
modernized and capable services after 2030. So, there are a lot of things that the
Vietnamese military wants to improve from buying more aircraft for its air force,
building more warships for its navy, and especially the capability to monitor.”
