Biden to meet Vietnam leader on UN assembly sidelines

NEW YORK – US President Joe Biden will hold talks with Vietnamese President To Lam on Sept 25 as the US leader closes out his final appearance at a UN General Assembly in New York.

The meeting – on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders – is part of Mr Biden’s push to deepen relations with the strategic South-east Asian country and manufacturing hub and counter China and Russia, with which Vietnam also retains ties.

With four months left to his presidency, Mr Biden in his valedictory UN speech on Sept 24 urged support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia and called for a diplomatic solution to a rise in Middle East hostilities.

Mr To Lam, making his first visit to the US as president, in New York on Sept 23 met representatives of US companies operating in Vietnam, including Amazon, Procter and Gamble and Visa.

He asked business leaders to back Hanoi’s bid to have Washington remove it from the list of non-market economies and lift other trade restrictions, and for the US and Vietnam to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains.

Mr Ted Osius, president and chief executive of the US-Asean Business Council and a former US ambassador to Hanoi, told Reuters that Mr To Lam had long engaged with US officials.

“This (Mr To Lam) is a guy who has seen the opportunities of the US relationship for a long time,” Mr Osius said.

Mr Biden visited Vietnam a year ago, securing deals on semiconductors and minerals and an upgrade in diplomatic ties between the countries.

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