Companies from Iran, Israel, China, Russia and the United States will showcase military equipment at an arms expo in Hanoi in December, Vietnam’s defence ministry said, a rare case of geopolitical rivals exhibiting their wares together.
Communist-run Vietnam has for years been seeking to diversify its military supplies to reduce its decade-long reliance on Russia, and has discussed potential procurement deals with multiple countries trying to leverage its flexible diplomacy of good relations with great powers.
At the defence expo to be held in the capital Hanoi on Dec 19-22, nearly 200 companies from 27 countries have already reserved booths, the ministry said in a statement, including firms from China and Iran, which had not attended Vietnam’s first international military fair in 2022.
The expo will bring together defence companies from Israel and Iran, who have launched missile attacks and airstrikes on each other in the past year. Iran will attend even though it is subject to sweeping Western sanctions.
The defence ministry has not released a full list of participants.
At the 2022 expo, Vietnam signed five contracts with foreign defence firms, an official said, although there is no public record for them. — Reuters
