Vietnam's President Lam to Meet U.S. Tech Giants Amid Strengthened Diplomacy

Vietnam's President and Communist Party Chief, To Lam, will meet representatives from Google and Meta during his U.S. visit. His trip, unannounced publicly, includes attending a U.N. assembly and a business forum with American corporations. The visit aims to bolster Vietnam-U.S. ties, emphasizing manufacturing and tech collaboration.

Vietnam's President and Communist Party Chief To Lam is scheduled to meet representatives from major U.S. corporations, including Google and Meta, during a visit to the United States next week, sources revealed to Reuters.

According to a Reuters report, Meta's Facebook operates one of its largest user bases in the 100-million-people country, while Google manufactures its smartphones there through suppliers and plans to establish a large data center. Lam, on his first U.S. trip since taking office in early August, will meet representatives of Google and Meta separately, the sources said, though what will be discussed remains undisclosed.

Additionally, Lam is slated to attend a business forum on Sept. 23 with other U.S. business representatives, according to people familiar with the plans, who requested anonymity due to the non-public nature of the information. The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), one of the event's organizers, declined to disclose the participant list, while Google and Facebook did not respond to requests for comments.

Over the last 18 months, the USABC has orchestrated two substantial U.S. business missions to Vietnam, attracting top corporations, including AES, Boeing, Mastercard, and Amazon. As Vietnam emerges as a key manufacturing hub, U.S. companies, including Apple, Intel, and various defense firms, are increasingly viewing it as a strategic market.

While Lam's visit has not been officially announced, he is expected to speak at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22-23 and will later travel to Cuba. The U.S. and Vietnam have strengthened diplomatic ties, with Washington keen to reduce its reliance on Chinese manufacturing by engaging more closely with Hanoi. However, it remains uncertain whether Lam will meet U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit.

A White House spokesperson commented that Biden plans to meet several foreign leaders at the U.N., but did not specifically mention Lam. Vietnam's foreign ministry and presidential office were also unavailable for comments. Lam's itinerary includes a planned state visit to France in early October, following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.

(With inputs from agencies.)