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Groundbreaking near Hanoi scheduled on Wednesday

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US President's son Eric Trump to attend event, organisers

say

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Vietnam's top leaders invited to event by local

authorities

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Vietnamese negotiators in talks in US to avoid punitive

tariffs

By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio

HANOI, May 21 (Reuters) - The Trump Organization and its

local partner will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday

for a luxury golf resort close to Vietnam's capital Hanoi,

according to invitations to the event seen by Reuters.

Vietnam's government approved the plan last week and the

ceremony will be attended by U.S. President Donald Trump's son

Eric Trump, organisers said. The event comes as the Southeast

Asian country negotiates with Washington to avoid punitive

tariffs.

Its developers have said the $1.5 billion project will

include when completed in 2027 three 18-hole golf courses and a

residential complex, and could be followed by additional

multi-billion-dollar investments.

Local authorities of the Hung Yen province, where the golf

club will be built, have also invited Vietnam's leaders to the

event, including the head of the ruling Communist Party To Lam,

who was born in the province, according to the invitation.

It is unclear whether he will join the event. Vietnam's

state news agency said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will

participate in a groundbreaking event on Wednesday in Hung Yen,

without specifying for which project.

Apart from the ceremony, Eric Trump is also set to meet Ho

Chi Minh City officials on Thursday to explore plans for a

possible skyscraper in Vietnam's southern business hub,

according to an internal schedule seen by Reuters.

"Vietnam has tremendous potential for luxurious hospitality

and entertainment," Eric Trump, who is a senior vice president

of the Trump Organization, said in October when the president's

family business announced a partnership with Vietnamese real

estate firm Kinhbac City.

"We are incredibly excited to enter this dynamic market."

The strategic collaboration, whose terms are not public,

"will focus on developing 5-star hotels, championship-style golf

courses, and luxurious residential estates and unparalleled

amenities in Vietnam," the consortium said in a statement in

October.

It is unclear how the two partners share costs and revenues,

and what conditions have been set for use of the Trump

franchise.

TRADE PLEDGES

Vietnam has made multiple pledges to the White House to

avoid 46% "reciprocal" tariffs that would kick off in July after

a global pause if no bilateral deal is reached.

They include lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers, an

intensified fight against trade frauds and counterfeiting, and

favourable conditions to Starlink, owned by Trump's close ally

Elon Musk, to roll out satellite internet services in the

country.

Organisers said the project in Hung Yen, a few kilometres

south of Hanoi along the Red River, rapidly obtained approvals

from local authorities, noting that it was the result of earlier

work by Kinhbac City on the plan which preceded the announcement

of the partnership with the Trump Organization.

Trump handed over the leadership of the organization to his

children after he won his first term as U.S. president.

The Trump Organization has luxury golf projects, existing or

under development, in countries from Indonesia to the Middle

East.