- Lam is set to travel to the United States for the first time since assuming his top position.
- Lam is scheduled to speak at the United Nations, although it remains unclear whether he will meet with President Biden during his visit.
OUR TAKE
To Lam’s visit and meetings with major U.S. corporations underscore the importance of Vietnam’s relationship with the U.S., not just economically but politically. The focus on U.S. companies investing in Vietnam aligns with Washington’s broader strategy of diversifying its manufacturing partnerships in Asia, seeking alternatives to China. This move reflects Vietnam’s role in the geopolitical landscape as both a manufacturing partner and a market, especially for sectors like technology, defence, and energy.
-Tacy Ding, BTW reporter
What happened
Vietnam’s president and ruling Communist Party chief, To Lam, is scheduled to meet with representatives from several major U.S. corporations, including Google and Meta, during his visit to the United States next week.
Meta’s Facebook (META.O) has one of its largest global user bases in Vietnam, a country with a population of 100 million. Meanwhile, Google (GOOGL.O) manufactures its smartphones there through suppliers and is planning to establish a large data centre, according to a Reuters report last month.
In his first trip to the United States since being appointed in early August as head of the Communist Party, Vietnam’s most powerful position, Lam is scheduled to meet separately with representatives from Google and Meta, according to two sources. However, neither disclosed the topics of discussion.
Two additional sources familiar with the plans stated that Lam will also attend a business forum on 23rd September, where he will meet with other U.S. business representatives.
Also read: Meta introduces WhatsApp integration with third-party apps
Also read: Google halts $200M data centre project in Chile over environmental concerns
Why it’s important
In two major U.S. business missions organised by the USABC lobbying group in Vietnam over the past 18 months, dozens of leading U.S. corporations participated, including defence firms, energy companies, and tech giants.
Among the companies that attended both recent missions to Vietnam were power company AES (AES.N), aviation giant Boeing (BA.N), payment firm Mastercard (MA.N), and Amazon (AMZN.O), including its cloud computing subsidiary Amazon Web Services, according to participant lists seen by Reuters.
U.S. companies view Vietnam as both a manufacturing hub and a key market for their products. Many of Apple’s (AAPL.O) suppliers produce the company’s products there, Intel (INTC.O) operates a large chip assembly plant, and defence firms have been in long-standing discussions to sell security equipment to Hanoi.
The U.S. and Vietnam strengthened their diplomatic ties last year, with Washington viewing the Southeast Asian nation as a strategic partner to reduce its dependence on Chinese manufacturing. The U.S. is also seeking closer cooperation with Hanoi in sensitive industries, including undersea cables.
