US to provide finance for Vietnam satellite project
The board of the Export-Import Bank of the United Sates (Ex-Im Bank) said it has voted to authorize a US$118 million direct loan to the Vietnamese Government for the export of a Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company telecommunications satellite and additional goods and services.
“As one of our nine key markets, Vietnam affords American companies unique export opportunities,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P Hochberg.
The loan, which represents Ex-Im Bank’s first satellite transaction with Vietnam, supported approximately 525 full-time equivalent American jobs, according to Lockheed Martin estimates, and financed export sales totaling $215 million, the bank said in a statement on its website.
“These opportunities promote economic growth in both countries, which in turn supports American jobs in vital US industries. The satellite transaction in particular reflects the unsurpassed quality of American technology and the demand for it abroad,” Hochberg added.
The loan is for the export of a VNASAT-2, a Lockheed Martin telecommunications satellite.
The Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), a state-owned enterprise based in Hanoi and acting on behalf of the Vietnamese Government in the transaction, hopes to satisfy the growing demand of the emerging telecommunications and television markets in the region.
“By providing financing for the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group, this Ex-Im Bank loan supports US manufactured satellites and US jobs,” said Linda Reiners, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Commercial Ventures vice-president.
“We congratulate our long-term customer VNPT, with whom we have now partnered in the manufacturing of two satellites.”
VINASAT-2 is a geosynchronous satellite that was launched on May 15 and recently completed a series of in-orbit testing. Equipped with a payload of 24 active Ku-band transponders, the satellite provides coverage to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.
BNP Paribas will serve as the documentation agent and letter-of credit bank.
As of the end of the 2011 fiscal year, Ex-Im Bank’s credit exposure in Vietnam accounted for $185 million of the bank’s portfolio. In FY 2012, EX-Im Bank authorized approximately $1.4 billion to support US satellite exports, exceeding its financing or the industry in FY 2011.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain US jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned $1.9 billion for US taxpayers above the cost of operations.
The bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance, and financing to help foreign buyers purchase US goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011- a record for the bank.