Author: the-shiv
Vietnam outbound FDI falls 64.6 percent year-on-year to end August
Mining, processing and manufacturing, and retail were the biggest recipients accounting for 39.8, 19.7, and 16.8 percent, respectively. These investments have mostly been concentrated in the Netherlands, Laos, the UK, and the USA accounting for 37.1, 25.78, 13.4, and 12.7 percent of these investments, respectively…
Starlink exec meets with Vietnam Prime Minister but no clear outcomes reached
Of note, back in March, it was reported that SpaceX has put plans to launch its satellite service on hold in Vietnam due to Vietnam’s foreign ownership limits in the telecommunications industry–Foreign ownership in telecommunications services that include infrastructure are capped at 51 percent in Vietnam for most countries…
Another European renewables firm planning to exit Vietnam: Reuters
Italy’s Enel, a producer of renewable energy, is looking to exit the Vientam market, Reuters has reported. This comes just weeks after it was reported that Norwegian energy firm, Equinor, would be closing its office in Hanoi. Though both firms have suggested their exit is related to broader restructuring of
Revenue at Samsung’s Vietnam operations up in first half of 2024
This is a significant development in that Samsung accounts for a huge portion of Vietnam’s exports in dollar value terms. At times this has been as high as 20 percent though this is slowly coming down as more manufacturing firms set up shop in Vietnam…
Private sector CEOs in Vietnam on almost double SOE counterparts
Notably, earlier this year the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh, suggested SOEs should consider foreigners for executive positions. He went on to say that better remuneration packages and higher salaries would be key. This latest development adds some context to the Prime Minister’s remarks and suggests that improvement in remuneration would need to be sizable.
Singapore food conglomerate to build coffee processing plant in central Vietnam
This announcement is in line with Vietnam being one of the biggest coffee producers in the world. This has seen a number of key international brands develop processing facilities in Vietnam. Notably, last year, France’s Louis Dreyfus Company and Poland’s Instanta Sp. z o.o. inaugurated a freeze-dried instant coffee production facility in Vietnam’s Binh Duong province. The project reportedly cost US$84.2 million with a capacity of 5,600 tonnes…
Vietnam’s Saigon Beer maker planning increased stake in local beer brand Sagota
Vietnam’s beer market has reported some challenges over the last couple of years from stricter enforcement of drink driving laws, to belt-tightening among consumers on the back of broader economic challenges, to greater competition and an increase in imported beers. As a result, a number of beer makers in Vietnam have recorded negative or slower than expected growth. In this context, this announcement could be the beginning of an era of consolidation within the industry…
Canadian takes reins of Vietnam’s biggest tech firm after police raid
One of Vietnam’s biggest tech firms, VNG, which operates the popular social messaging app Zalo and makes video games, has appointed Canadian Kelly Wong acting CEO after a police raid of its office in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, Tuoi Tre is reporting. Wong will be stepping up from his
The New York Times receives licence to open Vietnam office
Of note, it’s not easy to do business in Vietnam for foreign news media outlets. Vietnam’s media industry is small and heavily regulated, particularly in terms of censoring content, though this does not seem to apply to international media outlets to the extent that it does to local news media producers. That said, foreign news operations in Vietnam are still limited in terms of what they can do…
Vietnam tech giant VNG raided for reasons unknown
The company has confirmed the raid in a statement but has provided no details as to why. Local media reported on the event at large before removing any reference to the event. It’s also unclear as to why…
Vietnam’s August Consumer Price Index stable at 4.04 percent
Vietnam’s Consumer Price Index slowed in August over July recording an increase of 3.45 percent compared to July’s 4.27 percent. Overall CPI remained steady at 4.04 percent safely within the government’s target range for the year of between 4 and 4.5 percent. Core inflation, meanwhile, saw an increase of 2.71
Vietnam’s Industrial Production Index up 9.5 percent year-on-year
The GSO notes that the processing and manufacturing industry increased by 9.7 percent, that the electricity production and distribution industry increased by 11.6 percent, and the water supply, waste and wastewater management and treatment industry increased by 7.8 percent. It does, however, also note that the mining industry decreased by 6 percent.
Vietnam foreign direct investment registered capital for 2024 reaches US$20.5
The biggest gain was in manufacturing and processing which added 134 new projects and US$1.51 billion. The biggest investor countries were China, Japan, and Singapore, in that order, with US$626 million, US$605 million, and US$271 million registered respectively…
Vietnam data centre for hire market to reach US$235 million: Arizton
Of note, Vietnam’s data centre development was given a significant boost last year when a revised Law on Telecommunications was approved. This law effectively opened the market for data centre development to foreign investment by allowing for full foreign ownership of data centres, cloud computing services, and telecommunications OTT services…
Gap between Vietnam bank deposits and loans issued gets wider
This could be symptomatic of a much bigger problem in that banks are being pressured to lend in order to meet a 14 percent credit growth target set at the beginning of the year which may be contributing to rising bad debts…
Indonesian ride-hailing app GoJek to withdraw from Vietnam market
Of note, it is not the first ride-hailing app to withdraw from the country. South Korea’s Baemin announced it would cease operations in the country back at the end of last year and Uber left Vietnam back in 2018 after selling its Southeast Asian operations to Grab…
Debt creeps up in Vietnam’s real estate sector
Of note, Vietnam’s real estate market is not in good shape and hasn’t been for almost two years now. Though reports of an imminent recovery of the real estate sector have become common in local media, the reality is that these rising debt levels would suggest there is still a long way to go…
New central Vietnam coal power plant set for trial run next month
This comes amidst uncertainty around Vietnam’s net-zero commitment made at the 26th Conference of Parties on the back of a Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement for US$15.5 billion that has been struggling to gain legs…
Vietnam Purchasing Managers Index records 2.3 point fall in August
The S&P Global Vietnam Purchasing Managers’ Index has recorded a 2.3 point fall in August, from 54.7 in July to 52.4 a month later, according to a press release from the firm. This does, however, signal the continued expansion of Vietnam’s manufacturing sector for the fifth month in a row…
Cheap meat imports continue to create discontent in Vietnam
Cheap imported meats have become an increasing concern among local meat producers with similar articles appearing in state media every other week. This narrative is largely growing in prominence on the back of a number of free trade agreements Vietnam has signed on to that are bringing down import tariffs on meat products. This has further been exacerbated by challenges in the local meat industry, particularly repeated outbreaks of African Swine Fever…
In today’s news: ForEx regs overseas investments SOEs, VinFast GSM 5m unit agreement, US cotton shipments to VN, Samsung semiconductor build-out VN, Tay Ninh
In today’s news: Japan-VN asset tie-up, Import tax refund guidance, Instant noodle consumption, AI plans, SSC + S&P Dow Jones execs meet in NY,
In today’s Vietnam news: Vinhomes bond plans, Fuel prices revised, Counterfeit Havianas, Internet undersea cable failures, VN-China tariff diff, SK-VN joint crude stockpiling, Daewoo
This is an interview with Chris Walker, a Vietnam Sourcing Expert with Vietnam Factory Tours how rising oil prices and the Middle East crisis are
This is an interview with John Gardner, CEO and Founding Partner, at Optimum Hospitality in Ho Chi Minh City. It covers fuel price impacts on:
This is an interview with Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro, Associate Professor, International Tourism & Hospitality Management at Copenhagen Business College, formerly of RMIT Vietnam. It