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.
What’s Going On with Vietnam’s Car Market in 2024?
Last week, it was announced that Vietnam would once again cut registration fees for locally assembled cars. This is on the back of slower sales of Vietnam-made vehicles which is the result of a much broader rejig of Vietnam’s car market. This article looks at how Vietnam’s car market is changing, what’s making it change, and what might come next.
The VietJet UK Court Ruling for Foreign Firms in Vietnam: Unpacked
For almost two years VietJet has been in a protracted legal battle with Fitzwalter Aviation. In July, however, it came to an end–pending an appeal–when a UK court handed down a ruling in favour of Fitzwalter. This article looks at what happened and how it played out in court, as well as what might happen next.
Commerce’s Findings from Vietnam’s Non-Market Economy Review: Unpacked
Last week, the United States Department of Commerce–the DOC–rejected Vietnam’s application to have its status as a non-market economy overturned. This came after a months-long review including thousands of pages of evidence and arguments, from both Vietnam and the United States, culminating in not just the aforementioned adverse findings but also a 284-page memorandum explaining the decision. This article breaks down the key points in said document.
How African Swine Fever is Reshaping Vietnam’s Pork Market
Vietnam has a bad case of African Swine Fever that it just can’t seem to shake. This is fundamentally reshaping Vietnam’s pork market, which has seen a huge increase in pork imports in recent years. This article looks at how this all started, what’s happening now, and what might happen next.
Is a Sugar Tax Right for Vietnam?
A sugar tax has been on the cards for Vietnam for some time now and may be drawing closer to becoming a reality. It has, however, been met with broad push back from industry and industry groups. This article looks at the public debate around a possible sugar tax in Vietnam, the impact it might have, and what foreign-owned businesses should be mindful of in this context.
How is the EVFTA Working Out for Vietnam?
On Thursday, Vietnam and the European Union will mark the fourth anniversary of the European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement or the EVFTA for short. This agreement has brought down tariff barriers and boosted trade but it hasn’t been without its challenges, some of which still persist. This article looks at how this landmark agreement has been implemented, the challenges it has faced, and the challenges it still faces…
What Does a Devalued Yen Mean for Vietnam?
Earlier this year the Japanese yen hit a 38-year low against the greenback and it’s currently sitting about 15 percent lower now than it was at the start of the year. Similarly, the Vietnamese dong took a big fall but has been propped up by the State Bank which has by extension kept the local currency higher against the Yen too. This article looks at what that might mean for Vietnam…
Vietnam’s New Direct Power Purchases Decree: Unpacked
Last week, Vietnam issued Decree 80 creating a mechanism by which private enterprises and power generators can enter into direct power purchase agreements or DPPAs. Exactly how impactful this decree might be, however, is difficult to determine at this early stage with a lot of moving parts and a number of obstacles to be overcome. This article breaks down and puts into context the key components of this new piece of legislation.
What’s Happened to Vietnam’s Beer Market? Unpacked 2024
The closure of the Heineken plant in Quang Nam, in central Vietnam, announced a week or two ago, has been big news. This is off the back of slow growth in beer sales post-pandemic and in line with falling revenues among a number of Vietnam’s major beer brewers. This has been blamed on broader economic challenges and harsher drink driving penalties, however, it is all a little more nuanced than that…
Vietnam’s Economy in the First Half of 2024: Unpacked
Six months into 2024, just days ago, Vietnam’s General Office of Statistics released GDP data that showed a marked improvement for the local economy compared to 2023. Specifically, it found that GDP growth for Vietnam for the second quarter of this year had hit a phenomenal 6.83 percent, bringing the average growth rate for the year so far to 6.42 percent. This growth, however, has not been felt equally and in this light this article breaks down the finer nuances of Vietnam’s GDP growth in the first half of 2024.
Nuclear Power in Vietnam: Unpacked 2024
During a state visit by the president of Russia to Vietnam last week, Vietnam’s Prime Minister told the Russians that Vietnam would consider nuclear energy as a means of meeting the net-zero 2050 commitment it made at COP26. Indeed, Vietnam needs more low-emissions electricity, but is nuclear power really a plausible solution?
The Impact of the Ukraine War on Vietnam’s Economy: Unpacked
The Ukraine War has not been kind to Vietnam’s economy. Tourism, trade, and foreign direct investment have all taken a direct hit, not to mention the indirect impacts of the greater global economic challenges the war has precipitated. With this in mind, and the President of Russia due to land in Hanoi later today, this article looks at how the Ukraine War has impacted Vietnam’s economy.
Why Cryptocurrency in Vietnam Is So Popular: Unpacked
Definitive regulations for cryptocurrency in Vietnam have been somewhat elusive. However, this has not stopped cryptocurrency and digital assets from becoming very popular. In light of this, this article runs through a brief history of cryptocurrency in Vietnam including how it has developed, how the government has responded, and what might happen next.
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…
Vietnam’s Rare Earth Partnership Contenders: Unpacked
For a brief month or two last year, Vietnam’s rare earth reserves were a hot commodity (pun intended). This was on the back of a whirlwind visit to Hanoi by the President of the United States, Joseph Biden, during which he announced the US would support Vietnam with mapping its
Vietnam’s Offshore Wind Power Holdup: Unpacked
At the beginning of March of this year, a 100-ton wind turbine fell apart over a fish and shrimp farm in Vietnam’s Bac Lieu province. No one was injured but some three weeks later the owner of the shrimp farm made a compensation claim in the amount of VND 160
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,
Insolvency in Vietnam: Unpacked
This article charts the path unprofitable firms tend to follow in Vietnam and what creditors might expect before bankruptcy proceedings are initiated on a debtor, if they are in fact, initiated at all.
Vietnam’s Real Estate Market Recovery 2024: Unpacked
At the beginning of last year, construction work on buildings in Vietnam was slowly winding down as the real estate industry ground to a halt. Hard hats were hung up and cranes ten stories high fell dormant leaving the cement shells of unfinished residential towers standing dark and empty–cold reminders
Vietnam’s Airline Industry Turbulence: Unpacked
When Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways first took to the skies in January of 2019, everything was looking up for Vietnam’s airline industry–not only was international tourism flourishing but rising incomes among middle-class Vietnamese were fueling a boom in domestic tourism as well. In fact, the route between Hanoi and Ho Chi
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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