The Vinasat-2 geosynchronous satellite recently completed a series of in-orbit tests following its May 15 launch. Equipped with a payload of 24 active Ku-band transponders, the satellite aims to provide telecommunications and television services to developing markets in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

The loan represents Ex-Im Bank’s first satellite transaction with the Vietnamese government and will finance $125 million in export sales. Hanoi-based state-owned enterprise Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) is acting on behalf of the government in the transaction. BNP Paribas will serve as the documentation agent and letter-of-credit bank.

Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg noted that the Bank’s credit exposure in Vietnam accounted for $185 million of its portfolio as of December 2011.

“As one of our nine key markets, Vietnam affords American companies unique export opportunities,” Hochberg said in a statement. “These opportunities promote economic growth in both countries, which in turn supports American jobs in vital U.S. industries. The satellite transaction in particular reflects the unsurpassed quality of American technology and the demand for it abroad.”

Hochberg added that the bank considered the transaction only after receiving presidential approval to do so in accordance with its charter, which requires the acting U.S. president to determine if a loan of $50 million or more to a Marxist-Leninist country is in the national interest before the Bank’s board can vote on the transaction.

“By providing financing for Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, this Ex-Im Bank loan supports U.S. manufactured satellites and U.S. jobs,” said Lockheed Martin Space Systems Commercial Ventures vice-president Linda Reiners. “We congratulate our long-term customer VNPT, with whom we have now partnered in the manufacturing of two satellites.”