Planemaker Boeing is ready to provide the Vietnamese government with planes and helicopters for natural disaster relief operations, Bredan Nelson, president of Boeing Global, said on Friday on the occasion of the opening of a Boeing new permanent office in Hanoi.

However, the supply would depend on negotiations between Vietnam and the U.S., Nelson remarked during a working session between a Boeing delegation and the Vietnamese government the same day.

The aviation giant had earlier supplied some of its products to the Vietnam Coast Guard, Nelson told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

During this business trip to Vietnam, the Boeing Global leader said he would consider its relationship with Boeing suppliers in Vietnam and local carriers.

Nelson will collect feedback and proposals on what Boeing should do in Vietnam compared to what it had done before.

“I also assumed the role as consultant on opportunities and development of the aviation sector in Vietnam,” he said, adding that Vietnam is among the first countries he has visited since he was appointed as Boeing Global president in January this year.

He said that Vietnam has a capability to develop its aviation industry.

The opening of Boeing’s new permanent office in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi is aimed at supporting the growth of the company’s workforce in the Southeast Asian country and expanding its supply chain.

“We believe that Boeing will have more suppliers in Vietnam. Our responsibility is to train Vietnamese businesses to meet the requirements in terms of quality, safety, and certification, so that they can take part in Boeing’s supply chain,” Nelson said.

To promote the aviation industry in Vietnam, aside from offering the new-generation aircraft that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent, Boeing will provide technology applications to improve the operational efficiency of the local aviation industry, develop an aviation supply chain, as well as train pilots, engineers, technicians for the sector.

Currently, 95 percent of the leaders and employees of six Boeing suppliers in Vietnam are Vietnamese.

He added that Boeing looks to increase the number of its suppliers in the country.

Commenting on a probable plan of building a Boeing aircraft maintenance center at Chu Lai Airport in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, Michael Nguyen, director of Boeing Vietnam, said the planemaker has yet to consider this plan.

Boeing, however, will work with Vietnamese carriers to learn about their need to develop an aircraft maintenance center.

There must be an adequate number of aircraft to ensure the stable operations of an aircraft maintenance center, Nguyen explained.

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