Vietnam, Germany sign cooperation pacts
HANOI - Three agreements on finance, technical cooperation and two contracts between Vietnam and Germany were signed in Hanoi on Saturday.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and his German counterpart, Gerhard Schoeder, who is in Vietnam for an official visit and the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 5).
The agreements between the two governments include an agreement on official development assistance (ODA) worth 25.5 million euros (US$31.6 million) for the 2003-04 financial year; an agreement on ODA worth 20.3 million euros for the 2004-05 financial year; and an agreement on technical cooperation in 2003 with ODA worth 15 million euros.
The two deals provide for the purchase of equipment worth 110 million euros between Vietnam's Thang Long Cement Joint Stock Company and Germany's Plysius AG and of 16 locomotives worth 46 million euros between the Vietnam Railway Corporation and Germany's Siemens & Vossloh.
Vietnam News Agency - october 11, 2004.
Siemens wins locomotive contract in Vietnam
HANOI - German engineering giant Siemens has won a 46 million euro contract to supply 16 diesel-electric locomotives to state-owned Vietnam Railways, a company official said.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, a spokesman for Siemens in Hanoi, said the deal was signed during German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's visit to Vietnam for a summit of European and Asian leaders.
Vietnam Railways said the locomotives would be used for freight and passenger services between Hanoi and the southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City.
Siemens is also hoping to play a lead role in the construction of two subway lines in Ho Chi Minh City to relieve chronic traffic congestion in the communist nation's largest metropolis.
In May last year the company signed a memorandum of understanding with city authorities expressing its interest in the project, which is estimated to cost more than 800 million dollars.
Agence France Presse - October 11, 2004.
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