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Vietnam’s economic freedom increases slightly: report
Canada’s Fraser Institute has ranked Vietnam 106th out of 165 countries on its Economic Freedom of the World: 2023 Annual Report, VN Express is reporting. The article carries comments from Dinh Tuan Minh, head of research at Market-based Solutions Center for Social and Economic Issues, in which he says “This
Price of gold rings in Vietnam highest this year
Gold rings have hit their highest price this year at VND 58 million (US$2,385) a tael (37 grams) CafeF is reporting. Why it matters: Gold is a popular investment in Vietnam seen as a secure place to store wealth, particularly for older Vietnamese. In this respect the local gold price,
Push for cross-border platforms to open local offices continues
Vietnamnet has published more calls for cross-border platforms to open local offices. This is not news persay, these laws have been in place for some time and seem to have been largely ignored by big players like Google and Facebook. This does suggest that these new regulations requiring these firms
Dairy products dominate list of most reputable F&B firms in Vietnam
Vietnam Report has published a list of the Top 10 Most Reputable Food-Beverage Companies in 2023 and half are dairy firms, Vietnam Plus is reporting. The top 10 were: Vietnam Dairy Products Frieslandcampina Vietnam Nutifood Nutrition Food International Dairy Products VitaDairy Vietnam Moc Chau Dairy Cattle Breeding, Kido Frozen Foods
China has expressed an interest in investing in more infrastructure in Vietnam
The China Railway Group and Power Construction Corporation of China have said they are interested in investing in more railway infrastructure in Vietnam, according to VN Express. Specifically mentioned were the North-South and the Lao Cai–Hanoi–Hai Phong railways. Of note: China’s track record (excuse the pun) with infrastructure projects in
Meta is looking to make metaverse hardware in Vietnam
Facebook parent company Meta, is looking to make hardware for its Metaverse in Vietnam, according to VN Express. This comes as the Prime Minister of Vietnam met with Meta executives in California on Monday. Why it matters: Facebook has flourished in Vietnam and has become an integral part of the
Vietnam coffee at record high export prices, but supplies running out
Vietnamese coffee has reached a record export high-price US$3,054 per ton, according to Vietnamnet. The publication is also reporting, however, that traders are running out of coffee to export and estimates a decline of 10 to 15 percent in output on unfavourable weather (no timeframe given). See also: How to
Calls to deregulate electricity prices in Vietnam
Deregulating electricity prices could create an ‘economic breakthrough’, according to Thien Dinh Tran, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, and reported by Dan Tri. He points out that it was done before with food prices and that it made a big economic differnce Eds note: Deregulating electricity prices
Foreign worker regulations in Vietnam have been amended
The Government of Vietnam has issued Decree 70/2023/ND-CP with additions to, and clarifications of, regulations on foreign workers, as reported in VN Economy. The changes are relatively minor and mostly semantic, however, there are some additional specific details that have been added such as documents that can be accepted to
Proposed increase in Vietnam container handling fees falls short of industry demands
Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has proposed a 10 percent increase in container handling fees at Vietnam’s ports, according to Vietnam News. Key industry groups, however, requested an increase of about 15 to 20 percent per year back in March. These groups claim that Vietnam’s seaports are running at a collective
Back to the drawing board for PDP8 deployment plan
A draft deployment plan for the Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) has been sent back to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for revisions due to a lack of detail, particularly on offshore wind, according to The Investor. Why it matters: Doubts have already been raised about Vietnam’s ability to
Vietnam’s semiconductor industry: where it’s come from and where it’s going
VN Express is carrying this write-up of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry in which it highlights Vietnam’s current role at the lower-value end of the supply chain. It notes that Vietnam’s role in semiconductor production is mostly at the final packaging stage which accounts for just 6 percent of a chip’s value.
Starbucks opens 100th store in Vietnam: how much bigger can it get?
Starbucks opened its 100th store in Vietnam on the weekend in Hanoi’s West Lake district, Vietnam News is reporting. It’s taken Starbucks ten years to get to this point on average opening only ten stores a year. For comparison, it opened more than 6,500 stores in China over 24 years
Calls to loosen lending criteria to boost business borrowing
A lot of businesses in Vietnam have already reached their maximum borrowing capacity, with no collateral left to take out new loans according to Huan Huu Nguyen, a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, and reported in Dan Tri. Nguyen says the issue is on the demand
Bot-trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange may soon be regulated
The State Securities Commision (SSC) has said trading firms should not deploy more automated trading-bots until it decides how to regulate this new tech, according to the Vietnam Investment Review. The article says this tech poses ‘potential risks and could destabilise the market’ though it doesn’t specify what those risks
Is it time to abolish conditional business lines in Vietnam?
In an interview with Thoi Bao Tai Chinh last week, Cung Dinh Nguyen, the former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management Research, took aim at conditional business lines and the corresponding business conditions. He says that to grow the private sector these need to be limited or even
Car sales drop in Vietnam in August partly because it’s ghost month
Car sales in Vietnam were down 9 percent in August according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) and reported by Vietnam News. The outlet notes a broader economic downturn and constraints on consumer spending are part of the reason, but also that these numbers coincide with the month of
Big gap in exports between domestic and foreign invested firms
This infographic from Tuoi Tre compares the exports of foreign invested enterprises to domestic firms, and there is a big difference. Foreign invested enterprises export almost three times more in terms of dollar value than local firms. What to watch: There is clearly an over dependence on foreign firms in
British newspaper hails Vietnam as dynamic content market?
Vietnamnet has covered an article in Britains Screen Daily in which the British publication refers to Vietnam’s film industry as ‘dynamic’. Vietnamnet’s coverage, however, ignores the two thirds of the article that discusses Vietnam’s censorship regime and how it is styming the development of Vietnam’s film sector. This is important,
EU ban of Vietnamese seafood could cost upwards of US$500 million
If the EU issues Vietnam’s seafood industry with a red card under its illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing regulations it could cost Vietnam’s seafood industry half a billion dollars according to ‘industry insiders and policymakers’, Vietnam News is reporting. Vietnam was issued a yellow card under the the EU’s
In today’s Vietnam news: Ready-to-drink tea market report, Rights groups EU action on Vietnam civic space crackdown, Taxi company buy 2,000 Vinfast cars, Vietnam
In today’s Vietnam news: South Korea – Vietnam leaders meeting, Vietjet COMAC lease agreement, EVN FiT eligibility problems proposed resolution, FDI firms fined over
In today’s Vietnam news: Vietnam-flagged LPG tanker passes Hormuz Strait, To Lam in China, Coffee concerns dry weather in VN, Coal mining output increase
This interview with Ngoc (Lily) Nguyen, the Vietnam Southern Region Sales Manager at HAP Commodities Consulting, covers how the Iran–Hormuz conflict is affecting the coffee
This is an interview with Hao Qiu, the Founder of Fair Farm Vietnam. It looks at how global factors, including Brazil’s crop outlook and Middle
This is an interview with Timen ter Meulen Swijtink, Managing Director, Collective Company (producer of LaCaph-branded coffee). It covers how the Middle East crisis is