Vietnam’s leader Lam meets US corporations, pledges to boost tech economy By Reuters

(Reuters) – Vietnamese President To Lam pledged to expand the country’s semiconductor and AI industries at meetings with top U.S. corporations in New York, as the communist-ruled nation seeks more investment from technology firms and other American companies.

In his first visit to the United States as Vietnam’s president, Lam is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden later on Wednesday.

Lam has held meetings with several U.S. companies, including technology corporations Apple (NASDAQ: ) and Meta, and financial firms Blackstone (NYSE: ) and Warburg Pincus, according to images of handshakes with company representatives posted on the government’s website Vietnam.

Lam, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party, Vietnam’s most powerful job, plans to meet with Google (NASDAQ: ) later on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his schedule, confirming a Reuters report last week.

At the meeting with Lam on Monday, Meta’s president of global business, Nick Clegg, shared plans for Vietnam’s production of virtual reality glasses, according to the Vietnam government’s portal.

Meta, which has tens of millions of users in Vietnam of its Facebook (NASDAQ: ) social network, did not respond to requests for comment.

At a separate business forum, Lam signed cooperation agreements with US firms on energy, artificial intelligence and a data center, the government said.

Other attendees included representatives from technology company Amazon (NASDAQ: ), payments company Visa (NYSE: ), consumer goods multinational Procter & Gamble (NYSE: ) and energy company AES (NYSE: ).

Lam “has made it absolutely clear that his presidency, his time as secretary general, will grow the technology economy,” said Ted Osius, head of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the advocacy group that co-hosted the event. he told Reuters.

In meetings with American companies, Lam said Vietnam views digital transformation as a driving force to take the country into a new era, according to the government portal.

“The development of semiconductor and AI industries is … a strategic choice and a priority,” Lam said.