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Lam to travel to US for the first time since he got top

job

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Google, Meta have large interests in Vietnam

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Lam to attend event with several US corporations, sources

say

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Lam to speak at UN, not clear if he will meet Biden

By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen

HANOI, Sept 18 (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 ( AES ), aviation giant Boeing ( BA ),

payment company Mastercard ( MA ) and Amazon ( AMZN ), 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 ( AAPL ) suppliers complete

many of the company's products there, Intel ( INTC ) 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.