Vietnam region, state ink accord

Trade office set for Bentonville

Ashton Campbell (from left) holds out documents for Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Chairman Dinh Thai of Vietnam’s Dong Nai province to sign Monday during a ceremony at the state Capitol. Joining them was Laura Russell.
Ashton Campbell (from left) holds out documents for Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Chairman Dinh Thai of Vietnam’s Dong Nai province to sign Monday during a ceremony at the state Capitol. Joining them was Laura Russell.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed an agreement Monday aimed at expanding trade opportunities with Vietnam's Dong Nai province.

During a ceremony at the Capitol with government officials from the province, Hutchinson said the memorandum of understanding is the first step toward expanding trade with a rapidly growing part of south Vietnam. Tin Nghia Corp., a large Vietnamese company involved in agriculture, oil, real estate, building materials and logistics, will announce the opening of a trade office in Bentonville today.

"This is how trade is built," he said. "It is built upon a relationship. It is built upon this type of sister-state relationship and because of that, whenever they're looking at investment or expansion in the United States, their focus is going to be Arkansas."

Hutchinson spoke broadly about the pact, saying the province would look to Arkansas to buy rice and soybeans and would consider Arkansas for new manufacturing locations.

Tin Nghia will share office space in Bentonville with Made in USA Works, a consulting firm for manufacturers and suppliers looking for ways to move part or all of their manufacturing operations to the U.S. Clients include manufacturers seeking to take part in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Made in America initiative.

Chris Neeley, Made in USA Works executive vice president, said some furniture production could come to the U.S. as a result of the agreement, noting later that Tin Nghia initially will focus its efforts on buying Arkansas commodities, including grain, resin, cotton and timber.

A partnership between Arkansas and the Dong Nai province has been in the works since fall, when Neeley began making trips to Vietnam. After additional meetings in Washington, D.C., and Bentonville, Neeley and a representative from the Arkansas World Trade Center traveled to Vietnam to negotiate the memorandum of understanding.

Made in USA Works' vice president of global development, Asa Hutchinson III, also was involved in the negotiations. Hutchinson III is the governor's son.

Neeley, a former public affairs director for Wal-Mart, said Tin Nghia wants to assemble furniture in the U.S. Tin Nghia can cut costs by having part of its manufacturing process located in the U.S. and possibly Arkansas, Neeley said.

"A lot of furniture [production] has shifted from China to Vietnam, but they're continuing to look for ways to reduce cost," he said. "So we went over there and said 'Stop building the furniture there. You can make it, send it over here flat, you save all that space in those shipping containers -- which is money -- and bring it over here flat to Arkansas, and we'll set up an assembly plant where you can assemble it with Arkansas workers and create jobs here.'"

When asked whether Tin Nghia will open a plant in Arkansas, Neeley said "absolutely." He said the company also is assessing whether there's a market for Vietnamese coffee in the U.S. Such a venture would require its own manufacturing facility.

Neeley said Arkansas beat California for the company's business and the memorandum of understanding. Committing to a memorandum of understanding and the opening of a trade office are necessary steps to pursue economic development projects together, Neeley said.

"It's like a handshake in America, but [the Vietnamese] like to have something in writing," he said.

Neeley, Tin Nghia Chief Executive Officer Quach Van Duc, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and others will announce the opening of the trade office at 2 p.m. today.

Hutchinson didn't mention Tin Nghia, furniture production, coffee or other details.

After the ceremony, Hutchinson praised the U.S. Congress for granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority.

That allows the final trade deal to be approved by Congress in an up-or-down vote and prohibits legislators from amending the agreement.

"What the trade agreements will do is to break down the barriers so that we can manufacture here and export without tariffs being a penalty for our exports," he said. "I think what we've learned because of transportation costs, because of logistics of bringing in foreign supplies through the ports in L.A. and port strikes, we have advantages here in the United States in manufacturing."

Business on 06/30/2015

Upcoming Events