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Can LNG really save Vietnam-US trade?
Key Challenges in Vietnam-US Trade Negotiations: Unpacked
Vietnam’s Private Sector Development Push: Unpacked
Vietnam’s Aviation Industry: State of Play 2025
Vietnam and the Middle Income Trap: Unpacked
Vietnam’s 8 Percent GDP Growth Target: Unpacked
Buy More, Sell Less: Tackling Vietnam’s Trade Surplus with the US
Is Vietnam the Next Asian Tiger Economy?
What Recent Traffic Reforms Say About Doing Business in Vietnam
Building An International Financial Centre in Vietnam: Unpacked
Vietnam’s Economy in 2024: A Brief Recap
What to Watch Now Google Has An Office in Vietnam
Does Vietnam Have a Private Consumption Problem Too?
Category: Services & Trade
This category includes the service sector, retail, logistics, finance, e-commerce, and tourism, alongside trade policy and investment trends. It covers import/export dynamics, banking regulations, stock market movements, and infrastructure development. With increasing integration into regional and global trade, this section provides insights into consumer behavior, foreign investment, and evolving service industries.
Waterpark developer stocks hit ceiling twice after buy order from BOD chairman
HVC started out making electrical equipment and air ducts but has since branched out into experiential entertainment development like skate rings and waterparks. Of note, the firm recorded its lowest annual revenue for the past four years in 2023, just US$9.9 million with a gross profit of about $1.7 million.
Vietnam builder ups foreign ownership limit, shares max-out twice
Vietnam currently applies foreign ownership limits to almost all stocks on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. Of note, as of March 11, of 401 stocks listed on the HoSE, 371 stocks had foreign ownership limits. For 366 of those stocks, foreign ownership was capped at 50 percent or less. This can be a deterrent for foreign investors and limiting with respect to raising capital for local firms. It can also be logistically challenging when foreign ownership gets close to said caps. In fact, these limits are one factor holding the local exchange back from an upgrade from a frontier market to an emerging market…
Interest rate hike speculation in Vietnam heats up
Whereas the bank has been spending its US dollar reserves in an attempt to keep the dong from devaluing too much, the reality is that it has already spent a lot–about US$2.95 billion according to ACB data and this has done little to weaken US dollar demand. With this in mind, an interest rate hike could be on the horizon.
Vietnam’s Foreign Investor Stock Sell-Off: Unpacked 2024
On March 27, foreign traders net-sold US$73.8 million worth of Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange–known colloquially as the HoSE–stocks. This was the biggest single-day net withdrawal from the market since at least December. It was, however, part of a trend that has seen foreign traders exit the market to the tune of US$1.18 billion in the six months to May 3 alone…
State Bank of Vietnam adds US$600 million to forex intervention tally
The State Bank looks to be using its forex reserves as a stop gap until the US cuts interest rates which should take some heat out of the US dollar. That said, the earliest analysts are expecting a US rate cut is July but September is looking much more likely, according to Morgan Stanley…
Owner of Vietnam’s gold hotel in Hanoi sees debts put up for auction
The connection to the gold hotel in Hanoi, whether it’s up for grabs or not, is noteworthy in that it was finished in 2019 right before COVID-19 saw borders close for the better part of two years. Up to that point, Vietnam’s economy had been going gangbusters as Vietnamese real estate and construction tycoons issued bonds and borrowed money hand over fist expanding…
Implementation of Vietnam’s new Land Law slated for July with NA approval
Among the key regulations this change will see come into force early are adjustments to the Law on Land that will remove land pricing regulations that see a price set every five years based with which, using their own coefficients, local governments determine the price of land. With land values increasing faster than the centrally set price and, believing their land to be worth more, landowners had in the past refused to sell waiting for a better price and this has held up a number of projects.
Vietnam securities firm suggests September 2 launch of new stock trading system
Of note the exchange said that the KRX trading system, imported from South Korea, would go live on May 2, however, this was promptly shut down by the State Securities Commission on the grounds that the exchange had failed to provide evidence trading firms were ready for the new system and because it hasn’t consulted all relevant stakeholders.
MSCI Frontier Markets Index review see Vietnamese stocks shuffled
Vietnam’s stock market indexes have been in the news a lot lately as the country pushes for an upgrade from a frontier to an emerging market. There are, however, a number of obstacles still standing in the local bourse’s path before an upgrade can be made and, as a result, it may still yet be languishing in MSCI’s Frontier Markets Index for some time to come.
Vietnam real estate market expecting boost from new Land Law
This may, however, be wishful thinking. It is already quite common for overseas Vietnamese to invest in real estate in Vietnam. Generally, if overseas Vietnamese cannot acquire property in their own name they will do so through a family member still living in the country. In this context, it’s not clear that when the new law comes into effect this part of it will make all that much of a difference.
Vietnam’s second biggest real estate developer under investigation
Vietnam’s Novaland, the country’s second biggest real estate developer, is currently being investigated by the Ho Chi Minh City Police department. The department has reportedly request documents pertaining to Aqua City, a real estate development in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province. As a result, Novalands share value plummeted by about
Real estate credit growth figures show Vietnam’s housing sector still struggling
At the end of February credit issued to Vietnam’s real estate sector had increased by about US$813.2 million, however, the residential sector recorded a credit contraction of US$78.6 million. Outstanding loans for off-the-plan houses also fell by US$648.3 million. Conversely, gains were made in industrial parks and export processing zones,
US dollar still at 25,450 dong level, more FX reserves needed
US dollars were being sold for 25,484 Vietnamese dong Sunday at some banks. This is above the 25,450 mark at which the State Bank of Vietnam has intervened by spending foreign currency reserves in the past. On the black market, US dollars were even higher selling for 25,800 a piece.
Foreign investors in Vietnam undertake the biggest net withdrawal in a month
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange registered a net withdrawal by foreign investors of US$50.8 million, the bulk of which was withdrawn from Vinhomes–a total of VND 900 billion or US$35.4 million, Zing News has reported. Though not mentioned in the linked article, Vinhomes has been under the spotlight
This quote about Vietnam’s new stock trading system
Vietnam’s new KRX stock trading system which was slated to begin operating on May 2 but has been delayed, is not up to scratch according to sources quoted by The Investor. Of note, one ‘representative of… a securities company’ told the publication that: “The testing process still has many errors,
Impacts of Vietnam’s US dollar intervention on trade with Japan, Korea
The Japanese yen and the South Korean won are depreciating against the US dollar and subsequently are also depreciating against the Vietnamese dong, Tuoi Tre has reported. This is on the back of Vietnam trying to keep its currency from devaluing by issuing treasury bills and spending its foreign currency
UOB says Fed rate cut will see dong appreciate by year-end
Singpore’s United Overseas Bank–or UOB–has said that it expects the dong to appreciate between now and the end of the year, The Investor is reporting. This is reflected in UOB’s Quarterly Global Outlook 2Q24 which suggests that a recovery in China will likely strengthen the local currency as well as
The Dong’s Wild Ride: Unpacked
The day that Russia invaded Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, the Vietnamese dong was trading at 22,843 dong to one US dollar–it had barely moved since the start of the year. This was in line with much of the past decade in which the local currency had only depreciated marginally,
Bank of America expects dong to slide another 1 percent in 2024
The Bank of America is expecting the Vietnamese dong to slide by another 1 percent by the end of the year, CNBC is reporting. According to the publication, the BofA made the assessment based on “Vietnam’s political instability following the second presidential resignation in two years as well as difficulty
Novaland lost VND 462 billion because of the exchange rate?
Embattled Vietnamese real estate developer, Novaland, has reported a first quarter loss of VND 601 billion or US$23.7 million, VN Express has reported. Of note, earlier this year Novaland reported an after tax profit on its unaudited financials statements of 685 billion or US$27 million, however, after being audited it
April 2025
Labour Market Report
Q1 2025
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