Vietnam places order for Japanese weather satellite

October 18, 2019

Hanoi--The Vietnamese government on Friday concluded a contract with major Japanese trader Sumitomo Corp. <8053> for a Japanese-made satellite to monitor the weather and climate for disaster prevention.

The deal involving about 20 billion yen in project costs will be aided by official development assistance from the Japanese government in the form of low-interest yen loans.

With cutting-edge technologies of Japanese corporations, Tokyo is looking to support disaster-prevention measures in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnam and other emerging economies with inadequate infrastructure are vulnerable to heavy rains and other natural disasters that are on the increase due to global warming.

This will mark the first export of a Japanese-made earth observation satellite. Previously, Japan has exported communications satellites.

Under the deal, Sumitomo will supply facilities to launch the satellite, which uses radar technology, and receive data from the satellite, to be produced by NEC Corp. <6701>. The satellite is planned to be launched from a site in Japan in 2023.

The government-affiliated Japan International Cooperation Agency will fully start preparations for the supply of the ODA loans.

Including personnel training and other programs, the entire initiative is expected to be valued in the scale of 50 billion yen.

"This project will become a symbol of space cooperation between Japan and Vietnam," Yosuke Asai, head of the Japanese industry ministry's Space Industry Office, said at the signing ceremony for the contract.

Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said that the project will lay important foundations for the country's space strategy. Jiji Press