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.
Vietnam GDP could take .3 percent hit if special consumption tax on alcohol raised
The article goes on to canvas the opinions of a range of industry groups but there does not appear to have be any analysis of the cost savings from a reduction in alcohol related illnesses and road deaths and property damage caused by drunk drivers nor how the funds collected might be redistributed…
Vietnam stock market holds steady on FTSE upgrade watchlist, October review
FTSE Russell notes that reforms have been made with respect to removing pre-funding requirements for foreign investors per a circular issued by the Ministry of Finance back in September, but goes on to say that Vietnam still needs to reform its registration process for new accounts and to come up with a way for foreign investors to more efficiently trade stocks when foreign ownership ratios are nearing their limits.
Top 10 Vietnam securities firms gain 2.67 percent market share Q3 2024
The biggest improvement belonged to Viet Cap Securities which saw a 1.46 percent increase in its market share with the biggest fall belonging to VNDirect which lost .76 percent. However, Vietcombank Securities Company dropped out of the top ten altogether and therefore how much its share changed is unknown. Of note, FPT Securities moved in to take Vietcombank Securities’ place…
Tien Phong Commercial Bank: Vietnam Stock Overview
TPBank’s net interest income increased by 14.2 percent, aligning with the broader trend seen across banks like VPBank, HDBank, and VietinBank, which also experienced significant growth in net interest income. This increase was driven by a stable macroeconomic environment and recovering credit demand, contrasting with 2023’s challenges when deposit interest costs exceeded lending income.
Vietnam securities firms hit deadline with thousands of trader IDs unverified
There were around 8 million active trading accounts last count but these are clearly not all being used. In October last year, MB Securities closed over half a million accounts that had been opened with the firm but had never recorded a transaction. This is just one of around 20 to 30 brokerages in Vietnam too, and in this context, this ID requirement may see many more accounts closed…
Vietnam real estate giant’s profit swings to loss after financial statement audit
Vietnam real estate giant Novaland has banked its worst half year on record after audited financial reports found huge discrepancies from what was earlier reported, The Investor has reported. Specifically, the company’s own financial statements reported a profit of VND 3.5 trillion or US$142.2 million, however, an audit found the company had actually made a loss of VND 7.3 trillion or US$296.6 million…
Vinhomes (real estate): Vietnam Stock Overview
According to reports by CBRE, in the second quarter of 2024, average selling prices of condominiums in the primary markets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reached approximately US$2,438 and US$2,560 per square meter, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 25 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Furthermore, they are expected to rise by approximately 22 percent and 5 percent year-on-year by the end of 2024…
Lack of bilingual reports ‘major barrier’ for foreign investors in Vietnam: HDCapital Exec.
Of note, Vietnam is currently courting an upgrade from FTSE Russell and MSCI from a frontier market to a secondary emerging market and an emerging market, respectively. One issue raised has been disclosure standards…
Becamex IDC (real estate): Vietnam Stock Overview
Industrial land rental prices are on the rise. According to a report by CBRE, in the second quarter of 2024, Tier 1 industrial land rents in the North and the South reached US$134 and US$173 per square meter, up 4.5 percent and 1 percent year-over-year, respectively. This trend is expected to continue, which could provide a significant boost to BCM’s business results as demand for industrial space increases…
Vietnam stock exchange pre-funding requirements to be lifted for foreign institutions
Of note, the circular appears to only address foreign institutional investors and not foreign individual investors which account for about 42,446 registered trading accounts in Vietnam. Neither FTSE Russell or MSCI, however, appear to make a distinction between the two in terms of the need to remove pre-funding requirements. With this in mind, this latest announcement should be viewed with cautious optimism…
SSI Securities Corporation: Vietnam Stock Overview
Despite positive business results in the second quarter of 2024, SSI shares experienced an 18 percent decline from April 1 to September 16. This downturn was attributed in part to broader market trends with the real estate sector underperforming and significant net selling by foreign investors…
KinhBac City Group (real estate): Vietnam Stock Overview
In March, KBC’s management board said it anticipated receiving investment approval for two projects by June 2024, namely the Trang Due 3 Industrial Park and Trang Cat Urban Area in Hai Phong City. This would have given the firm’s bottom line a significant boost. However, this did not come through with a report by SSI Research released on August 8, suggesting that the Trang Due 3 Industrial Park was unlikely to be completed this year…
Audits find broad inaccuracies in fin. statements for several Vietnam real estate firms
For example, in financial reports compiled by Saigon Real Estate Corporation, VND 76.6 billion in revenue was reported, however, after audit that number was reduced to VND 60.2 billion. It also saw a self-reported profit of VND 2.4 billion become a loss of VND 23.4 billion…
State Bank of Vietnam returns to buying up US dollars
Notably, this may be problematic with Vietnam already on the US currency manipulator watchlist after meeting two of the three criteria, namely a material account surplus greater than 3 percent of GDP and a goods surplus with the US greater than US$15 billion. It has thus far, however, failed to meet the third criteria: foreign currency purchases in eight out of 12 consecutive months, worth more than 2 percent of GDP…
Phu Nhuan Jewelry: Vietnam Stock Overview
Of note, Vietnam’s gold price exhibited a dramatic upward trend from the start of 2024, culminating in a peak of VND 92.2 million per tael or US$2,981.1 per troy ounce on May 11. This price represented a premium of approximately 20 percent compared to the global gold market at that time…
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…
REE Corporation: Vietnam Stock Overview
In the first half of 2024, REE’s revenue reached US$161.5 million, down 11.5 percent year-on-year. This is partly due to the El Niño phenomenon which has seen drought-conditions in parts of Vietnam, reducing water in hydropower catchments. Additionally, a government policy prioritizing coal-fired thermal power plants to conserve water during the dry season has limited hydropower’s participation in the electricity market…
Electronics Retailer Digiworld: Vietnam Stock Overview
As the core business of Digiworld, the electronic devices segment has been challenged by declining demand and intense competition–in the broader market, electronics retail chains like FPT Shop and Mobile World, have also closed a number of underperforming stores. With this in mind, Digiworld has implemented a horizontal development strategy, which involves adding new brands and entering new industries through mergers and acquisitions…
Vinh Hoan (seafood): Vietnam Stock Overview
Vinh Hoan, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange under the ticker VHC, is a leading Vietnamese seafood company. Established in 1997, it has become one of the world’s largest pangasius exporters, with a strong presence in the US and Europe…
Gelex Electric: Vietnam Stock Overview
Of note, in August 2024, 300 million shares in Gelex Electric were officially listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange under the ticker GEE. Previously, the stock had been traded on the Unlisted Public Company Market…
In today’s Vietnam news: Fuel prices cut, Double-digit growth target reinforced, New airport services delay approval requested, TikTok VN investment, Bybit in Vietnam, LG
In today’s Vietnam news: VN renews antidumping tariffs on Thai sugar, Power supply challenges continue, USTR tariffs forced labour, AMRO growth forecast downgrade, Foreign
In today’s Vietnam news: Fund outflows May, New HCMC airport trial operations to begin September, M&A HCMC 2026, Compensation for gas-to-electric bike switch Hanoi,
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