Sun Phu Quoc Airways, a subsidiary of Sun Group, has been officially approved by the Prime Minister to establish an airline with registered capital of VND 2,500 billion (approximately US$98.81 million), VN Express has reported.

Of note, Vietnam’s airline industry has been struggling to recover from the COVID-induced downturn in travel demand.

Bamboo Airways, in particular, has seen a good number of its routes cut over the last few years or so, and its fleet significantly downsized.

Vietjet is also facing a US$180 million payment over broken lease agreements, and Vietnam Airlines was only saved last year by a deferment on repayments of a US$157 million interest-free government-backed loan.

That is to say, it will be interesting to see how the market responds to a new player.

Banking and finance news

Banking & finance: Vietnam payday lender raises US$30 million from UK’s Lendable

Vietnam payday lender, F88, has secured a US$30 million, three-year loan from UK-based Lendable. This brings its total funding for F88 to nearly US$70 million, English language news site, The Investor has reported.

Key points in the article include:

F88 aims to increase revenue and customer base by 30 percent over five years.
The capital will support expansion efforts as the company prepares for registration on Vietnam’s UPCoM trading platform.
F88 now operates 888 retail outlets, with added reach via partnerships with Military Bank (MB) and a logistics firm with 10,000+ transaction points.
FiinRatings upgraded F88’s credit outlook to “Positive” in April, citing improved capital access and asset quality.

Leandable’s US$30 million investment adds weight to the idea that Vietnam’s consumer finance space is both investable and expected to scale fast.

Vietnam State Treasury deposits at major SOEs hit 5-year high, Q1 2025

Vietnam’s State Treasury had deposited VND 379.05 trillion (US$14.58 billion) across state-owned banks BIDV, VietinBank, and Vietcombank as of end-March 2025 — more than 4 times higher than the same period last year and the highest since 2020, Dan Tri has reported.

Interesting points in the article:

Banks must publicly bid for term deposits under strict criteria, including asset size, equity, bad debt ratios, and performance.
State-owned banks benefit from the selection criteria, which favour institutions with strong capital bases and low risk. Interest rate offers also affect bidding outcomes.

This is interesting in that private sector development has been flagged as a key policy of the government. The private sector has responded by arguing that private enterprise needs to receive treatment equal to state-owned enterprises (and FDI firms for that matter) for this to work. In this context, these State Treasury deposits highlight the structural problems supporting the status quo that will need to be addressed (not really mentioned in the private sector development strategy documents issued so far).

Vietnam dong slides again

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has continued to carry out open market operations. Notably, there were US$1.82 billion worth of reverse repos outstanding as of the close of business May 22. There were, however, no outstanding treasury bills.

Of note, the value of the dong climbed a little this week against the greenback. Whereas this time last week it was down by 2.58 percent over the start of the year, as of close of business May 22, it was down by 2.52 percent (based on the central exchange rate set by the SBV).

Education news

Vietnam parents blindsided as HCMC English centre shuts after collecting US$250,000

Over VND 6.58 billion or US$253,840 in tuition was collected before the sudden closure of Australia International English School (AIES), in Ho Chi Minh City, VN Express has reported. More than 200 parents across Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai were affected.

Key details in the article include:

Parents paid up to three years of tuition in advance, with discounts from 15 to 45 percent.
The school announced a temporary closure on May 8 for repairs but never reopened.
Attempts to contact AIES management have failed, with staff accounts locked and the website offline.
AIES was operated by Duy Khang Training – Education Company, founded in 2007.
Parents have filed complaints with local police and education authorities.

This is one in a string of similar incidents in recent years. APAX English and American International School, for example, both closed down after they ran out of money, but not before taking large, upfront, lump-sum payments.

Food & Beverage news

Russian Pizza chain exits Ho Chi Minh City on “objective factors”

Russia’s Dodo Pizza will close all of its Ho Chi Minh City outlets from May 26, due to “many objective factors and new strategic directions”, Tuoi Tre has reported.

The author suggests that Dodo Pizza struggled in Vietnam due to a combination of factors, including:

Timing issues: The brand’s entry into Vietnam coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced it to delay store openings due to social distancing restrictions.
Fierce market competition: Vietnam’s pizza market is crowded, with strong players like Pizza 4P’s (local), Domino’s and Pizza Hut (US), and The Pizza Company (Thailand), plus a wide variety of international and domestic competitors.
Consumer taste preferences: The article hints that Vietnamese consumers still favour traditional local foods, making it harder for foreign fast food brands to win market share.
Cost and value pressures: The saturated food and beverage market in Vietnam demands high quality and competitive pricing, which may have been difficult for Dodo Pizza to sustain.

Although Dodo Pizza had strong global growth, the author seems to imply it may have underestimated the need for aggressive localisation and market fit in Vietnam’s competitive F&B landscape.

Media news

Vietnam police accuse local editor of 82 counts of extortion

Dong Xuan Thu, former editor-in-chief of Vietnam Environment and Urban magazine, has been accused of involvement in 82 cases of property extortion by the Thai Binh Police, as reported by Dan Tri.

He allegedly directed reporters to write negative articles about local businesses, then used those articles as leverage to pressure subjects to pay to have them taken down.

According to investigators, once targets were confronted with damaging articles, they were encouraged to resolve the issue by contributing funds to charity organisations established by the publication.

These funds were then distributed internally among reporters, departments, and representative offices. Police identified 42 defendants in total, including Thu, and said the group extorted VND 5 billion, or approximately US$192,300.

Of note, it’s not uncommon for news media practitioners to take payments for news stories, and as far as ethics go, their appearance in news gathering in Vietnam tends to be limited at best. This is important to remember when consuming locally produced news.

Manufacturing news

US furniture firm to open Vietnam warehouse, exit Georgia operations

US firm Hooker Furnishings is opening a new warehouse in Vietnam, part of a broader logistics overhaul. The move is part of the company’s strategy to shift more inventory storage closer to its suppliers, reducing US safety stock needs, and improving responsiveness to shifting tariff policies, company leaders have told an earnings call.

Key details

The Vietnam warehouse will shorten replenishment cycles from six months to 4–6 weeks.
It enables container mixing and better product flow, reducing the need for large U.S. inventories.
Hooker expects annualised savings of US$4 million to US$5.7 million from the Savannah exit starting in FY2027.
The facility supports the company’s shift away from low-margin, bulky accent items previously stored in the US.
Vietnam will serve as a strategic buffer amid tariff uncertainty and supply chain disruptions–the company says that the Vietnam storage can essentially be used to regulate the flow of goods imported to the US around tariff announcements and changing policy.

Real estate news

Trump Organisation eyes Vietnam skyscraper, amid tariff talks

The Trump Organisation, in partnership with Kinhbac City, is exploring a skyscraper project in central Ho Chi Minh City, with Eric Trump expected to survey the site and meet city officials this week, Reuters has reported.

Key points in the article include:

The visit follows Vietnam’s recent approval of a US$1.5 billion golf, hotel, and real estate development in the north, led by the same Trump-Kinhbac venture. A groundbreaking ceremony is reportedly planned for Wednesday, with Eric Trump in attendance.
Vietnam is in talks with the US government to avoid punitive tariffs of up to 46 percent, set to resume in July. The country has offered concessions, including tariff reductions, support for Starlink (linked to Elon Musk, a Trump ally), and enforcement of trade fraud and counterfeiting.
The Trump Tower concept remains in the early stages, and it is unclear whether it will move forward or gain regulatory approval.
The financial structure, revenue sharing, and terms of the Trump brand’s use in the Vietnam projects remain undisclosed.

Sanctions news

Three Vietnam firms added to EU Russia sanctions list, May 2025

Three Vietnamese companies have been added to the EU’s Russia sanctions list as of 21 May 2025.

The firms are accused of supporting Russia’s military or energy sectors through trade facilitation or indirect circumvention of export controls, according to an EU Council Decision issued May 20.

The three Vietnamese entitles names are:

Inand Industries Company Ltd. Inand Industries is a relatively new trading company based in Hanoi.
DAV Group Company Ltd. DAV Group is a trading company engaged in the import and export of electronic components and equipment.
Thavico Import Export Company Ltd. Thavico is an export-import company specialising in electronic components and equipment.

Of note, Vietnam’s exports to Russia last year reached US$2.34 billion, an increase of 33.95 percent over 2023.

Stock market news

Vietnam cuts red tape for foreign account openings

Under a new circular, issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, foreign investors will no longer need to consularise their documents when opening an indirect investment capital account to trade on Vietnam’s stock exchange, CafeF has reported.

Previously, this process required consular legalisation, often delaying account opening by several months.

Foreign traders net-buy US$53.32 million of HoSE stocks

Over the last five trading sessions to the close of business on May 15, foreign investors net-sold US$53.32 million worth of HCMC Stock Exchange stocks. This brings the total net-sold since the start of the year to US$1.36 billion.

Foreign trader activity, last five trading days

	Buy		Sell		Change
Date	VND	US$	VND	US$	VND	US$
16/5	2,156	$83.00	3,111	$119.76	-955	-$36.76
19/5	2,583	$99.44	3,082	$118.65	-499	-$19.21
20/5	2,657	$102.28	3,181	$122.46	-524	-$20.17
21/5	3,251	$125.15	2,773	$106.75	478	$18.40
22/5	2,766	$106.48	2,651	$102.05	115	$4.43
Total	13,413	$516.35	14,798	$569.67	-1,385	-$53.32

VND = billions; US$ = millions; source: HSX

Tourism & hospitality news

Industry voices call for fix for Vietnam’s workforce gap

Vietnam’s tourism workforce suffers not only from a shortage in numbers but also from weak quality and limited real-world exposure, Professor Dao Manh Hung (VITEA) has warned in an article published by VietnamNet.

This was part of a broader discussion around a skills mismatch in Vietnam’s tourism industry, with the publication saying the industry needs 40,000 workers a year but only about half of that is available (no source cited).

Also of note in the article:

Do Hong Xoan, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Education Association (VITEA), highlighted a mismatch between educational outcomes and business needs, citing a lack of international-standard skills and poor language proficiency
Xoan added that businesses face high turnover and need training programmes with at least 70 percent practical content to ensure graduates are job-ready
Trinh Cao Khai (Hanoi Tourism College) said many experienced professionals left the sector during COVID-19 and haven’t returned, placing a greater burden on schools.
Dr. Hoang Ngoc Tue (Hanoi University of Industry) criticised the lack of coordination, saying many companies complain about graduate quality but fail to invest in training.
Tue noted that international firms often send experts and fund training, unlike many local businesses.

This fits within a broader narrative around training and education, whereby education outcomes don’t align with industry needs.

Of note, there was an article last week in which the heads of several vocational colleges took issue with the number of university places made available. They argued it was excessive and that many students attending university would be better off at vocational colleges.

The week ahead

There are a handful of events coming up this week. For more information, see: Doing Business in Vietnam: Events Directory 2025.

Of note: If you’re looking for an in-depth assessment of anything to do with the business environment in Vietnam, I do take commissions and I am always open to collaborate. You can reach me on LinkedIn – Mark

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