Last year, a revised Law on Land passed Vietnam’s National Assembly. This revised law has the potential to have a huge impact on Vietnam’s land market and could speed up foreign-invested projects considerably. With this in mind, this cheat sheet runs through the key changes in the new Law on Land and how this might impact foreign firms doing business in Vietnam.

Total bad debt of 28 Vietnam banks up 14 percent at end March

the-shiv May 22, 2024

Back in December banks went on a lending frenzy as they tried to make up for lacklustre credit growth throughout 2023 by cramming it all in at the end of the year. This saw very aggressive marketing campaigns take place and this led credit to…

Concerns raised in Vietnam over cheap steel imports from China

the-shiv May 22, 2024

Needless to say, local producers have cried foul and argue that Chinese steel is being dumped on the Vietnam market. They have reportedly requested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade initiate an anti-dumping investigation…

Postponement of anti dumping duties on solar panels from Vietnam to come to an end in June

the-shiv May 22, 2024

Of note, in a Department of Commerce hearing a couple of weeks ago, the core argument made by opponents of Vietnam’s redesignation as a market economy, was that Vietnam was being used as a conduit for Chinese goods looking to circumvent US trade restrictions. In this context, this latest development, especially in an election year, could speak to the thinking at the White House on the matter, in that it may not want to be seen as allowing this sort of thing to happen and, by extension, may also not want to be seen as supporting Vietnam’s efforts to be designated a market economy.

Vietnam’s VinFast runs into trouble in the US over unpaid rent

the-shiv May 22, 2024

Of note, a lot of the challenges VinFast has faced entering the US market can largely be traced back to fundamental differences between doing business in Vietnam and doing business in the United States, and a failure to properly understand the differences…

Total forex reserves spent keeping the dong steady reach US$2 billion: ACB

the-shiv May 22, 2024

This is a significant jump from last Wednesday when ACB estimated that the bank had spent just US$900 million. Of note, Vietnam is cagey about its foreign currency reserves and does not regularly publish forex data. It does, however, periodically communicate what it has on hand with the International Monetary Fund. The last report from the IMF, in September of 2023, recorded forex reserves of…

Apple supplier Foxconn has been asked to reduce its power use in Vietnam

the-shiv May 22, 2024

Promoting power conservation is not a new concept. This happens just about everywhere in the world. That said, what should be concerning is the volume of power Foxconn is being asked to cut. Whereas a firm might be able to save a few kilowatts here or there, it would be very unusual for a firm to be operating with an inefficiency in their power use of 30 percent.