“Asia is indeed an important growth center that GE is dedicated to serve in our global strategy. At sub-region level, Vietnam plays a key role in our growth strategy for ASEAN as it is one of the fastest growing economies in the region,” John G. Rice said during his two-day visit to Vietnam last week.

Rice remarked his visit to Vietnam demonstrated GE’s positioning the country as a core emerging market for the advanced technology, services and finance company in the region. He also noted GE had decided to locate its manufacturing base in the northern city of Haiphong two years ago.

GE has commissioned a US$60-million factory in Haiphong to produce generators for wind turbines and other components for local and international orders, as part of the company’s strategy to transfer technology and manufacture more products in Vietnam.

GE is looking to more progress and success in the areas where the company can collaborate with the Vietnamese Government and important companies, Rice said after he witnessed the signing of a long-term partnership memorandum of understanding between GE Energy and Cong Thanh Group in HCMC last Friday.

The partnership will enable GE Energy to participate in the development of power and other projects with Cong Thanh Group as one of leading Vietnamese private corporations in cement production and trading, and infrastructure development.

“We take a very long-term view of this partnership and we are quite excited about what we are collaborating with one of Vietnam’s top companies,” Rice said. He added energy was a heritage business of GE and this was one of the cooperation scopes with Cong Thanh.

Nguyen Cong Ly, chairman of Cong Thanh, said the group started to expand operations into energy and fertilizer production after years of manufacturing cement as these were among the fields where demand was very high in Vietnam.

Ly told the Daily after the MOU signing that Cong Thanh was preparing to begin work on a 600-MW thermo-power plant to supply electricity to Nghi Son Economic Zone and industrial parks in northern Vietnam. This US$400-million project is planned to go online after 30 months of construction.

Ly said Cong Thanh now operated and was constructing three cement plants, and would invest more than US$500 million in three more projects. By 2012, the group will be turning out at least eight million tons of cement a year.

“Vietnam is now in dire need of more energy to support development… and we hope that GE will be a solid partner for our development strategy,” Ly said after he and Rice of GE witnessed the MOU signing ceremony.

On Friday, Rice, who is also president and chief executive officer of GE Global Growth and Operations, addressed around 1,000 students at the Vietnam National University in HCMC about the role of leadership in the 21st century as well as GE’s aim for talent and leadership development. Rice said as a part of its commitment, GE continued to support Vietnam in human resource development.

A GE-sponsored, US$1-million training center was inaugurated at the University of Technical Education in HCMC in late last year to train students the most advanced electrical distribution and control equipment.