Biden to meet Vietnamese leader on sidelines of UN General Assembly

By Steve Holland and Simon Lewis

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will hold talks with Vietnamese President and ruling Communist Party leader To Lam on Wednesday, as the U.S. leader concludes his final appearance at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

The meeting, on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders, is part of Biden’s efforts to deepen ties with the strategic Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub and counter China and Russia, with which Vietnam also has ties.

Four months into his presidency, Biden, in his farewell address to the UN on Tuesday, called for support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia and urged a diplomatic solution to the escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

To Lam, who is making his first visit to the United States as president, met in New York on Monday with representatives of American companies operating in Vietnam, including Amazon, Procter & Gamble and Visa.

He asked business leaders to support Hanoi’s demand that Washington remove the country from the list of non-market economies and lift other trade restrictions, as well as for the United States and Vietnam to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains.

Ted Osius, president and CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council and a former US ambassador to Hanoi, told Reuters that To Lam had been in contact with US officials for a long time.

“He (To Lam) is a man who has long seen the opportunities offered by relations with the United States,” Osius said.

A year ago, Biden visited Vietnam and struck deals on semiconductors and minerals, as well as improved diplomatic relations between the two countries.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Simon Lewis; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)