vietnam
The Vietnam category covers economic developments, investment trends, and policy updates specific to the country. It explores market opportunities, trade relations, industry growth, and government initiatives, providing insights into Vietnam’s role in global supply chains, emerging sectors, and foreign business expansion.
Gold ring prices surpass gold bar prices in Vietnam
Of note, State Bank gold bars were previously being sold through four majority state-owned banks, at well below market price, with huge queues of customers looking to buy up the cheap State Bank gold. This has since moved online and now that demand is much less visible. That said, the rising price of gold rings could suggest there may be a supply side issue with respect to gold bars…
Vietnam considering 2.6 cent feed-in-tariff for excess rooftop solar
Notably, in 2017, to encourage renewable energy, the government implemented a mechanism to buy excess rooftop solar power at a preferential feed-in tariff price of 9.35 cents per kilowatt hour. This policy led to a significant increase in investments in rooftop solar power systems and subsequently ended in late 2020 due to concerns about uncontrolled growth of rooftop solar power sources. This rapid expansion caused challenges in managing the national power grid and since the beginning of 2021, the signing of rooftop solar power purchase and sale contracts has been paused…
Business confidence in Vietnam falls in second quarter: EuroCham
The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam’s latest Business Confidence Index survey, has recorded a fall in business confidence of 1.5 points. The results reflect the responses of 212 survey respondents out of EuroCham’s 1,400 members…
Mixed messages on future of FDI in Vietnam
Vietnam has used tax incentives as a financial lever to influence investment trends. Preferential tax rates for foreign projects are available at rates of between 10 to 17 percent, depending on the field and location, with some enjoying special tax rates as low as 5 percent. However, these tax incentives have been significantly diminished by the Global Minimum Tax–about 122 foreign companies have been impacted by the new tax in Vietnam, according to a review by tax authorities…
Vietnam’s Vinfast delays North Carolina factory, status of tax incentives unknown
Of note, Vinfast was given a number of tax breaks and incentives by the North Carolina government to encourage its investment in the state. These amounted to a combined US$1.25 billion understanding that the firm would create 7,500 jobs and invest US$4 billion in its factory. This included US$325 million in funds provided up front for site preparation and the upgrade of infrastructure to service the plant, as well as training programs, with the rest tied to key milestones in construction and hiring. It’s not clear what will happen to these incentives in the context of the three year delay that has just been announced…
Finland’s PYN Elite fund names embattled Vietnam Airlines stock pick of the month
The fund doesn’t really give any clear reasons for making this call but does note that the government gave the airline an extension on a US$160 million loan. It should be noted, however, that this was to avoid insolvency with the airline currently operating on negative equity. It also should have been delisted from the HoSE years ago, however, the government intervened to stop that from becoming a reality. In light of this, naming Vietnam Airlines as the stock of the month is an interesting decision to say the least…
Vietnam’s biggest insurance firms to reduce state ownership
Notably, state-owned insurers held a dominant position in Vietnam’s insurance market share in 2023, with Bao Viet leading at 15.13 percent. That said, the Vietnamese insurance market is opening its doors to foreign investment. In 2022, a new Law on Insurance Businesses was passed that allows for foreign firms to wholly own Vietnamese insurance companies…
China textile firm kicks off construction of US$71 million factory in northern Vietnam
Notably, Vietnam’s textile and garment industry experienced strong growth in the first six months of 2024. In the first half of 2024, Vietnam’s textile and garment exports reached approximately US$16.5 billion, an increase of 4.6 percent over the same period in 2023. However, the improvement in Vietnam’s textile and garment exports does not seem to necessarily stem from improved global demand but from a shift of orders from other countries to Vietnam…
Japan noodle firm to invest US$87 million in northern Vietnam in 2027
Notably, Vietnam was among the top three markets for instant noodles globally over the three years ending in 2022, according to the World Instant Noodle Association. Vietnamese consumed approximately 8.48 billion packs of instant noodles in 2022 collectively or 85 packs per person…
Vietnam News Roundup: July 5 to July 11
This week’s Vietnam news roundup covers Vietnam’s latest import and export numbers, bond issuances, new manufacturing projects, IPO data, foreign trader stock market activity, electricity news, and more…
Vietnam state power provider records 2023 loss of more than US$1 billion
Of note, retail electricity prices in Vietnam are regulated and, though permitted, price rises are not all that common. This has led to EVN selling electricity below cost price. As of January, it was losing about VND 142.5 per kilowatt-hour sold. This has been ongoing for some time and has led to EVN accumulating the huge aforementioned losses. The issue here seems to be a reluctance to raise electricity prices rather than an inability to do so…
Vietnam records just one IPO in first half 2024, tied lowest among SEA peers
That single IPO was Hanoi-based DNSE Securities which officially listed under the ticker DSE on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at the start of July. Notably, this was the first new listing of a securities firm on the local bourse in the last five years…
South Korea to develop resource recycling industrial park in Vietnam
Of note, despite the staggering volume of waste generated in Vietnam, waste treatment in the country remains ineffective. Currently, 70 percent of trash is buried, around 10 percent recycled and the rest, processed in other ways. According to the National Environmental Status Report in 2021, the majority of waste is taken to landfill sites, with only 20 percent meeting national sanitary requirements…
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…
Malaysian hardware retailer expands foothold in Vietnam
This is in line with a rapidly growing DIY and home hardware industry in Vietnam–in 2024, revenue in the industry in Vietnam is expected to reach US$18.91 billion and will grow at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 3.13 percent from 2024 to 2028, according to data compiled by Statista…
Amkor to push up investment in northern Vietnam by 11 years
This will make the province one of Amkor’s most extensive facilities in the world with total funding for the project reaching $1.6 billion–a $520-million factory in the first phase was inaugurated in October 2023 and is in line with a number of other big names investing in Bac Ninh including Samsung, Fushan, Canon, and Foxconn. Of note, Bac Ninh was the second most popular province for foreign invested projects in the first quarter 2024…
Singapore battery maker increases Vietnam investment by US$5.5 million
The move to expand battery production capacity aligns with increasing global demand for electric vehicles–or EVs for short. The world is witnessing an explosion of EVs, with electric car sales in 2023 six times higher than in 2018, just 5 years earlier. Furthermore, global EV sales are predicted to grow from less than 45 million in 2023 to 250 million in 2030 and reach 525 million in 2035, according to the latest research by IEA…
Vietnam bank bond issuances skyrocket in June
Of note, deposit interest rates have been rising alongside loans issued by the State Bank of Vietnam to local banks through open market operations–there are currently VND 22,765 billion or US$895.5 million worth of these loans outstanding. It’s also worth noting that credit growth jumped significantly in June reaching 4.45 percent by the 24th. This was significant in that at the end of May credit growth was just 2.41 percent…
New airport slated for central Vietnam’s Quang Tri starts construction
Vietnam’s airports have been a critical component in logistics in Vietnam and subsequently in Vietnam’s economic development. They are the main entry point for most foreign investors, they facilitate millions of dollars of trade via air freight every day, and they have commanded huge amounts of public investment spurring the country’s economic growth. With this in mind, the new airport in Quang Tri should position the province well for future economic growth…
Vietnam opens thousands more trading accounts in June despite risks
An additional 106,417 stock trading accounts were opened in Vietnam in June, according to data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. Of those, individual foreign investors accounted for 159 individual accounts with 27 for foreign organisations. The total number of active trading accounts in Vietnam is now 8,044,825, but this number is a little misleading…
In today’s Vietnam news: Facebook account theft ring shut down, Minimum wage to rise from Jan 1, Nuclear power project reorganisation proposed, No jail
In today’s Vietnam news: Research prosecution exemption, Fuel retailer losses, Semiconductor degree requirements, Eurocham BCI, Government bond auction Wednesday, Australia tourist visa problems, Coffee
In today’s Vietnam news: Accor-Sun Group agreement, US largest ethanol supplier, Demographic dividend to end 3 years early, Maritime economy development, ACV looking to
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