Last week nine leading French search, rescue and emergency service firms came to Vietnam, including Airbus Helicopters, Aquasure/APB Environment, Boche, Groupe Leader, Hydr’am, Piriou, Sides, Systel and Thales.

When asked by VIR whether Airbus Helicopters would consider constructing a factory in Vietnam, Airbus Helicopters sales promotion manager Benoit Terral said “Why not? We are discussing to have a major project about flying ambulances with the government. We want to create a flying ambulance network in Vietnam with at least 30-40 helicopters. We also have lots of major partners worldwide that can help local partners manufacture helicopters.”

“We have lots of expectations in the Vietnamese market, because its quantity of helicopters remains quite low. We will have lots of things to do here. We have had some big partners here like Vietnam Airlines (more than 20 helicopters) and several small private partners,” he added.

Airbus Helicopters under the Airbus Group is the world’s number one helicopter manufacturer. It has over 3,000 customers in 150 countries.

Meanwhile, Aquasure’s country manager Vietnam David Tran said his company had developed clean water treatment systems which would be particularly useful in emergency situations.

“They are simple and easy to operate even at the commune level. In Vietnam, Aquasure is willing to support emergency services,” Tran said.

For Piriou, its regional manager Stephane Doll also said Vietnam was developing its maritime economy and the shipbuilder and repair firm’s services would be in strong demand.

As France’s third-largest shipbuilding, ship repair and navel engineering group, Pirou is present in Europe, Africa and Asia. It generated sales of €143 million in 2013. It produces a range of vessels for oil spill mitigation, fire fighting and tug duties, defence, search and rescue, and police actions, among others.

“We are seeking partners in Vietnam,” Doll said.

Thales’ business development manager Thomas Queteville also said Thales wanted to expand business to Vietnam. With revenues of €14.2 billion last year, Thales is a global technology leader in aerospace, transportation, and defence and security markets.

“We are discussing possibilities for us to distribute their products in Vietnam. We hope to land contracts with them soon,” said Tran Manh Ngoc, director of Tritaco Ltd which already distributes security products for Spanish, German and Belgian producers.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Noel Poirier said civil and security co-operation had been prioritised by Vietnam and France over the past seven years. In 2007, the two countries signed a security co-operation deal.

Vietnam is one of the five countries most affected by the impact of global warming. Some 75 per cent of the Vietnamese population is potentially exposed to climate risks.

“So the need for efficient and modern facilities is a major priority for the country,” Poirier said.

“French technologies are critically needed in Vietnam, because the country’s increasing economic development, increasing impact of climate change and natural calamities also mean more risk of fires and accidents,” said Doan Huu Thang, vice director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Prevention, Emergency-Rescue and Firefighting.

He reported that during 2009-2013, Vietnam experienced 40,000 accidents, over 2,000 fires, with about 300 deaths, and damages running into hundreds of millions of dollars every year.