VIETNAM

Carrier Corp. in Joint Venture: The air conditioner giant, a unit of United Technologies Corp., has signed a $10-million joint venture contract with Vietnam’s Ree Refrigeration Corp. to make air conditioners in the country, Ree said. Ree Refrigeration said production will start next year at a plant in Ho Chi Minh City, where Ree has two factories. The joint venture company, to be known as Carrier Vietnam Air Conditioning Co., anticipates revenue of between $150 million and $200 million by the year 2000, Carrier Asia Pacific said. The deal is the first signed by a foreign company with a non-state-owned Vietnamese firm.