features
The Features category includes in-depth analyses, expert opinions, and long-form reports on key industries, policies, and market developments. It explores trends, challenges, and opportunities across various sectors, providing comprehensive insights for professionals, businesses, and policymakers.
Vietnam’s Economy in May: Unpacked
Last Friday, the National Statistics Office (NSO) released its May economic update. For the most part, the data was on trend, however, it comes amidst broad trade uncertainty and a generally hazy global economic picture. Against this backdrop, this article breaks down the key data points and policy factors that shaped Vietnam’s economic landscape in May.
Could A Trump Tower Really Break Ground in Vietnam Next Year?
Last week, it was widely reported that work could start on a Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City as soon as next year. However, Vietnam’s real estate sector is not flush with cash, and this could make it challenging to get this project off the ground.
What The Economist Episode Says About Public Debate in Vietnam
The edition of The Economist featuring General Secretary To Lam — literally pictured with stars in his eyes — offered more than just sharp analysis of Vietnam’s economic trajectory. It also, indirectly, proffered valuable insights into how Vietnam’s public space for debate operates.
Trans shipping: To What Extent is Vietnam China’s backdoor to the U.S.?
Vietnam’s role as a transshipment hub for Chinese goods has become a key point of contention between the US and Vietnam. While there seems to be little question that this practice is taking place, there does seem to be some debate as to what extent. With this in mind, this article looks at a few key data points worth considering.
Vietnam Shoots the (Telegram) Messenger: Implications & Impacts
Telegram is set to be banned in Vietnam because it is allegedly being used for nefarious activities. Foreign firms should see this as a reminder of the often arbitrary and unpredictable nature of Vietnam’s digital regulatory environment.
Vietnam’s US Tariff Threat Prompted Counterfeit Crackdown: Unpacked
Counterfeit goods have been highlighted as one non-tariff barrier that led to the recently announced US tariffs on Vietnamese goods. Vietnam is now responding to try to bring down those tariffs by launching a crackdown on counterfeits. So, how prevalent is the counterfeit goods trade in Vietnam? Can it be stopped? And if it can, why hasn’t it been already?
The “Existential” Tariff Threat to US Footwear Brands & What That Means for Vietnam
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America has warned that the “reciprocal” tariffs announced last month pose an existential threat to American footwear businesses. This article explores how that threat could play out in Vietnam.
Can LNG really save Vietnam-US trade?
There has been a lot said about Vietnam buying more LNG in order to reduce its trade surplus with the United States. There has even been some suggestion that Vietnam could buy as much as US$35 billion worth a year and store it offshore. But is buying more LNG really a realistic option?
Marx to the Market: A Brief History of Vietnam’s Post-Reunification Economic Development
Fifty years ago this month, the citizens of Ho Chi Minh City were watching the skies as US military helicopters evacuated the last of their personnel. Conversely, this month, in 2025, the citizens of Ho Chi Minh City looking skyward are unlikely to see US helicopters and instead more likely to see the VN Pay logo made up of tens of hundreds of drones. An advertisement for a banking and finance app to be sure, this is also largely emblematic of just how far Vietnam’s economic ideology has shifted in the last 50 years.
Vietnam’s Revised Power Development Plan 8: A Missed Opportunity
Last week, the Government of Vietnam issued a Decision significantly revising the Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8). However, whereas this could have been an opportunity to redesign the PDP8 to align more closely with on-the-ground realities, this opportunity looks to have been missed.
Key Challenges in Vietnam-US Trade Negotiations: Unpacked
The US-China tit-for-tat trade war has seen tariffs on China rise to 145 percent and tariffs on the US reach 125 percent. As a key link between these two economies, this puts Vietnam in a tricky situation entering trade negotiations with the United States. Add to that the often contradictory objectives of its foreign-invested and domestically owned sectors and this should make for some very interesting negotiations.
What’s Next for Vietnam if Trump’s 46 Percent Tariff is Here To Stay?
Last week, the President of the United States Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from all over the world. Among them was a 46 percent tariff on imports from Vietnam. This will have broad implications for Vietnam’s economy and the world economy more broadly. With this in mind, this article looks at what Trump hopes to achieve and the way he intends to achieve it, both of which make it look a lot like these tariffs are here to stay. That being the case, it also looks at the implications for Vietnam and ways it might be able to formulate an impact-mitigating response.
Could Vietnam Benefit From a Bit of Polish ‘Shock Therapy’?
Vietnam wants to develop fast but this will require significant economic reforms and for those reforms to be implemented quickly. But whereas there is a tendency to look regionally for economic models to emulate, it might also be worth looking to the ex-Soviet Eastern European states, like Poland, which went from a low-income to high-income economy in only a few decades. With this in mind, this article looks at what Poland did that allowed for such a rapid change in its fortunes and whether or not Vietnam can do the same.
Vietnam’s Private Sector Development Push: Unpacked
Last week, Vietnam’s relatively new General Secretary, To Lam, announced that he wanted to see Vietnam’s private sector expand to 70 percent of GDP by 2030. This is not a new concept but it has historically been somewhat of a struggle to realise. With this in mind, this article looks at Vietnam’s private sector development, why it has failed to break out, and what might be different this time around.
Can South Korea’s Chaebol Development Model Work for Vietnam?
The South Korean chaebols are constantly referenced as a model to be emulated in Vietnam. However, whereas at first glance South Korea’s economic development on the back of its chaebols looks to be a success story, that doesn’t really tell the whole story. With this in mind, this article looks at how the chaebols system worked and didn’t work and whether this is a model Vietnam should be looking to follow.
Vietnam’s Aviation Industry: State of Play 2025
Vietnam’s airline industry has been struggling to find its footing since COVID-19. Whereas some of the problems facing the industry last year have been alleviated, it still faces a number of challenges, many of its own making, and a full recovery may still be a long way away. This article breaks down those challenges and the outlook for the industry moving forward.
Right Now, a Weak Dong Could be Good for Vietnam. Here’s Why.
The depreciation of the Vietnamese dong has picked up speed since the Lunar New Year break with the State Bank of Vietnam easing its intervention efforts. This is not, however, necessarily a bad thing and could even be a good thing in certain circumstances. With this in mind, this article looks at Vietnam’s monetary policy and how it is changing, who benefits from a stronger dong, who benefits from a weaker dong, and how these outcomes are connected.
Vietnam and the Middle Income Trap: Unpacked
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the risk Vietnam faces with respect to growth stagnating, and the country becoming stuck in the middle-income trap. Most of this talk, however, has focused on the level of GDP growth that needs to be reached and maintained rather than the specific policy and structural reforms needed. With this in mind, this article looks at what the middle-income trap is, how countries get themselves stuck in it and how they get out, and where Vietnam fits in a slightly more policy-focused discussion.
Vietnam’s 8 Percent GDP Growth Target: Unpacked
There has been a lot of buzz around an 8 percent GDP growth target recently approved by Vietnam’s National Assembly. It is, however, just a target and ultimately doesn’t really mean much on a practical level. This article looks at what GDP growth targets do, the problems they present, and the outcomes or lack thereof.
Buy More, Sell Less: Tackling Vietnam’s Trade Surplus with the US
Vietnam has been repeatedly singled out by US officials with respect to its trade surplus with the United States. This hasn’t, so far, seen any targeted trade implications for Vietnam (i.e. tariffs) from the US administration, but it is increasingly looking like it is only a matter of time. With this in mind, this article looks at how Vietnam might address the trade imbalance by buying more US goods, and/or reducing its exports to the US.
In today’s Vietnam news: More land for Trump golf course, Hanoi metro awarded Vingroup, Rising bank bond interest rates, GE contract stalled power plant
In today’s Vietnam news: MSCI market review, Russia’s Gazprom abandons LNG plant project, Horror movie making warning, Banking risk analysis, Denmark-VN ethanol cooperation, Work
In today’s Vietnam news: Thailand vs Vietnam tourism, India missile purchase final stages, Airport rail connections Long Thanh, BESS development Northern Vietnam, New US
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