US and Vietnamese Firms Set to Announce Energy, Tech, and Aviation Deals

A slate of new business agreements spanning the energy, technology, aviation, and financial sectors are anticipated to be unveiled next week between U.S. and Vietnamese corporations. The announcements are timed to coincide with a trip by Vietnam’s leader To Lam to New York, according to officials and planning documents reviewed by Reuters.

Expected Agreements

The deals are expected to be announced at a business conference in New York on September 23. While many of the agreements may be non-binding, they signal deepening commercial ties. According to an internal planning document, the announcements could include:

• Energy: U.S. firms Murphy Oil and Chevron are expected to announce agreements with state-owned Petrovietnam, while ExxonMobil is slated for a deal with Vietnam Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation.
• Aviation: Vietnam’s largest private airline, Vietjet, is expected to announce the leasing of as many as 22 planes, including 17 Boeing 737s and five Airbus A321neos. The airline also plans a contract with SpaceX to provide Starlink satellite internet services to 120 aircraft.
• Technology: U.S. chip designer Qualcomm is listed for an agreement with Vietnamese telecom firm VNPT. An unspecified deal between Meta and Vietnam’s ministry of culture is also on the provisional list.
• Finance: Visa, Mastercard, and Citibank are also expected to announce new agreements with partners in Vietnam.

Geopolitical and Economic Context

These commercial arrangements are part of Vietnam's broader strategy to strengthen economic relations with the United States amid ongoing trade negotiations, according to officials cited by Reuters. The Southeast Asian nation has been working to address concerns from the Trump administration, which has threatened new tariffs on the export-reliant economy.

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Vietnamese leader To Lam is scheduled to speak at the U.N. General Assembly on September 22 and hold meetings with several U.S. corporations during his visit. The trip is aimed at making progress on a trade deal that has been under negotiation for more than a year, though a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump remains uncertain, the sources said.

What It Means for Markets

For investors, these planned announcements underscore Vietnam's growing importance as a key economic partner for the U.S. in Southeast Asia. The deals highlight significant opportunities for American companies in a rapidly expanding market, particularly in critical sectors like energy infrastructure, digital transformation, and air travel.

Even if preliminary, the agreements represent potential revenue streams and market expansion for the U.S. firms involved. For Vietnam, they serve a dual purpose of attracting foreign investment to fuel domestic growth while also navigating a complex geopolitical landscape and reinforcing trade ties with its largest export market.