By Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnamese and U.S. firms have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to cooperate in energy, artificial intelligence and a data centre, the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday.

The MoUs were signed at a business forum in the United States, the government said in a statement.

The MoUs include one on energy technology transfer signed by Vietnam’s state-oil firm PetroVietnam and Kellogg Brown & Root, LNG cooperation between PetroVietnam’s unit PTSC and Excelerate Energy, and AI and data centre development between Sovico Group and Supermicro.

Vietnam’s Vietjet said it signed a $1.1-billion cooperation agreement with Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. The U.S. company will provide avionics and aviation technical services for Vietjet’s aircraft fleet, the budget airline said.

The forum was also attended by Vietnamese president To Lam, who is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Lam said the two countries had plenty of room to cooperate and Vietnam hoped the U.S. will become its largest source of foreign investment.

Lam said he expected the U.S. government to soon recognise Vietnam as a market economy, according to the statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department said last month it would continue to classify Vietnam as a non-market economy. If Vietnam applies again, it will take U.S. regulators months to come to a decision.

Vietnam has long sought an upgrade, which would reduce punitive anti-dumping duties levied on non-market economies identified as having a heavy state influence.