By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s president and ruling Communist Party chief To Lam is set to meet representatives from several U.S. corporations, including Google and Meta, during a visit to the United States next week, two people briefed about the plans told Reuters.
Meta’s Facebook has in the 100-million-people country one of its largest user bases worldwide, and Google makes its smartphones there through suppliers and plans a large data centre, according to a Reuters report last month.
In his first trip to the United States since he was named in early August as head of the party, the country’s most powerful job, Lam is scheduled to meet representatives of Google and Meta, the two people said, with one noting each of the companies would have a separate meeting with him. Neither said what will be discussed.
Another two people familiar with the plans said Lam will also attend on Sept. 23 a business forum with other U.S. business representatives.
All the four sources declined to be identified because the information was not public.
The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), which is one of the organisers of the Sept. 23 event, declined to share a list of participants.
Google and Facebook did not reply to requests for comment.
In two large U.S. business missions the USABC lobbying group organised in Vietnam over the last 18 months, it brought in dozens of top U.S. corporations including defence firms, energy and tech companies.
Among firms who attended both recent missions to Vietnam, are power company AES, aviation giant Boeing, payment company Mastercard and Amazon, including its cloud computing subsidiary Amazon Web Services, according to lists of participants seen by Reuters.
U.S. companies see Vietnam as a manufacturing hub and a market for their products. Apple’s suppliers complete many of the company’s products there, Intel has a large chip assembling factory, and defence firms have been long in talks to sell security equipment to Hanoi.
BIDEN MEETING?
Lam’s trip to the United States has not been formally announced, but officials said he would travel there on Saturday to speak at the United Nations General Assembly where global leaders meet for their annual get-together on Sept 22-23. He will fly to Cuba later in the week in the final leg of his trip.
Columbia University has announced an event with Lam on Sept. 23 in New York.
The U.S. and Vietnam boosted their diplomatic ties last year as Washington sees the Southeast Asian nation as a strategic partner to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing. The U.S. is also seeking closer ties with Hanoi on sensitive industries, including undersea cables.
However, it is not clear whether Lam will meet U.S. President Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment about Lam, but said Biden planned to meet several foreign leaders at the United Nations.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry and the president office were not immediately available for comments.
Lam met Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in his first trip abroad after his appointment as party chief.
He also plans a state visit to France in early October, an official told Reuters.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill)