Venezuela, Vietnam strengthen ties with joint fund

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CARACAS — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Minh Triet, agreed on Thursday to create a $200 million joint development fund to strengthen economic cooperation between the socialist countries.

"We've decided to march forward together, raising the flag of socialism," said Chavez, speaking alongside Triet during a ceremony at the presidential palace. "We are building a strategic alliance."

Among other projects, the development fund will finance the construction of lightbulb and truck factories, Chavez said.

Venezuela is considering the construction of an oil refinery in Vietnam as the oil-rich South American country seeks to tap into fast-growing energy markets in Asia while reducing its dependency on the United States as its top buyer of crude.

Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, is looking into the possibility of supplying crude to Vietnam for refining and storage with the Asian nation's state oil monopoly, Petrovietnam. Chavez also has raised the possibility of cooperating with Vietnam to build oil tankers.

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