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Vietnam News Roundup: October 25 to October 31

In case you missed it…

Media Relations in Vietnam: Lessons from VinFast

As it stands, with limited demand for VinFast’s electric cars and a balance sheet that recorded a loss of more than US$2 billion last year, scrutiny of the firm’s financials and product quality has been extensive, drawing the lion’s share of the organic (as opposed to paid) international press coverage of the firm.

How VinFast has managed its brand image and narrative, however, also offers some interesting insights into the company and, by extension, how media relations work in Vietnam… Read More »

Banking and Finance News

State Bank continues aggressive open market operations

The State Bank of Vietnam has continued to intervene in the currency market with US$3.5 billion in treasury bills outstanding as of the close of business Thursday. There were also reverse repurchase agreements outstanding to the tune of US$1.54 billion.

Outstanding reverse repos, COB October 31

IssuedLengthMaturingVND (billions)US$% p.a.
24-Oct731-Oct3,000.00$118,616,9274.00
25-Oct71-Nov4,999.92$197,691,7144.00
28/1074-Nov10,000.00$395,389,7554.00
29/1075-Nov14,999.91$593,081,0744.00
30/1076-Nov3,000.00$118,616,9274.00
31/1077-Nov3,000.00$118,616,9274.00
Total38,999.83$1,542,013,323

Outstanding treasury bills, COB October 31

IssuedLengthMaturingVND (billions)US$% p.a.
18-Oct141-Nov4,400.00$173,971,4923.74
18-Oct2815-Nov7,900.00$312,357,9063.74
21-Oct144-Nov3,900.00$154,202,0043.74
21-Oct2818-Nov17,750.00$701,816,8154.00
22-Oct145-Nov3,600.00$142,340,3123.70
22-Oct2819-Nov8,850.00$349,919,9334.00
23-Oct146-Nov3,300.00$130,478,6193.70
23-Oct2820-Nov9,500.00$375,620,2674.00
24-Oct147-Nov600.00$23,723,3853.60
24-Oct2821-Nov2,650.00$104,778,2854.00
25-Oct148-Nov2,000.00$79,077,9513.70
25-Oct2822-Nov2,500.00$98,847,4393.99
28/101411-Nov600.00$23,723,3853.70
28/102825-Nov200.00$7,907,7953.99
29/101412-Nov2,400.00$94,893,5413.70
29/102826-Nov1,200.00$47,446,7713.99
30/101413-Nov5,300.00$209,556,5703.70
30/102827-Nov200.00$7,907,7953.99
31/101414-Nov6,300.00$249,095,5463.75
31/102828-Nov6,050.00$239,210,8023.99
Total89,200.00$3,526,876,615

Source: Vietnam Dong Tracker: Daily Updates

Car news

Vietnam’s VinFast has spent US$268.6 million on its stalled North Carolina factory so far

Vietnamese electric car market, VinFast, has revealed spending on a planned North Carolina factory had reached US$268.6 million by the end of June, according to an information disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commision.  This is notable in that the factory was officially put on hold earlier this year, as the nascent car maker deals with huge losses, legal action, and little interest in its vehicles in the US market. VinFast has said the factory, which was scheduled to start operating next year, will now start operating in 2028, though that is far from certain.

E-commerce news

Vietnam e-commerce sales reach US$3.3 billion third quarter: report 

In the third quarter of 2024, Vietnam spent VND 84.7 trillion, or US$3.3 billion, shopping online, marking an 18.2 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, with beauty care, male footwear, groceries, and fashion the most popular items, Tuoi Tre has reported citing Metric, an e-commerce market research platform. Notably, affordable products priced under VND 200,000, about US$8, made up over half of the online sales. Furthermore, brands’ official stores, despite being only five percent of the total sales, contributed nearly a third of the overall revenue.

Vietnam’s online shopping market has seen remarkable growth in recent years, driven by the increasing accessibility of the internet and the widespread use of smartphones. The nation’s young and tech-savvy population, combined with a burgeoning middle class, has created an ideal environment for e-commerce to flourish. Platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and Tiki dominate the market, offering a wide range of products from electronics to fashion and daily necessities.

See also: Vietnam Online Shopping: Industry Overview

Education news

New foreign universities in Vietnam to be limited to world top 500

New foreign higher education institutions establishing branches in Vietnam must “be among the top 500 higher education institutions ranked in the world’s prestigious university rankings for one of the three most recent years” according to a new Decree that goes into effect from November 20.

The decree does not make clear what ‘prestigious university rankings’ it is referring to but looking at the QS World University Rankings there are a lot of pretty decent schools outside of the top 500. These rankings also don’t take into account that different universities are often better at different disciplines nor that the quality of a university generally goes part and parcel with the quality of the broader education systems within which they operate.

Furthermore, the top 500 universities charge huge fees. A three-year Bachelor of Business at RMIT Vietnam costs about US$42,240 a year. This is about 10 times GDP per capita and in this context, the market for these courses in Vietnam cannot be that big in which case it’s hard to see many top 500 universities moving in and therefore any foreign universities at all.

See also: Education in Vietnam: Industry Overview

Gambling news

Gaming venues slated for more surprise inspections in southern Vietnam

Khanh Hoa Province in south-central Vietnam has called for intensified inspections of venues offering electronic games with prizes for foreigners (as opposed to for money which would be considered gambling and illegal) in the province with a focus on surprise inspections to ensure they are not actually fronts for illegal gambling, according to Tuoi Tre.

Of note, gambling in Vietnam is illegal but that doesn’t stop a sizable amount of betting occurring. This tends to peak around major sporting events. In particular, the World Cup sees a huge number of underground gambling establishments pop up in soccer-mad Vietnam. Recognising that this might be a problem, or perhaps that Vietnam is missing out on millions of dollars worth of tax revenue, there have been recent moves to try to legalise the practice, this is, however, taking quite a bit of time.

See also: Gambling in Vietnam

Gold news

An online black market has emerged for gold in Vietnam

Vietnamese have taken to buying and selling gold directly through social media groups to circumvent traditional trading avenues, namely through gold stores, and more recently banks, according to VN Express. This is amid reports that consumers have had difficulty accessing gold through said traditional channels.

The Vietnamese gold price has been out of sync with the world gold price for some time now, at points up to 20 percent higher. This led to the State Bank selling gold from its reserves at a fixed price to try and bring the price down. However, it looks a lot like it is only releasing a limited supply that is insufficient to meet demand, ergo consumers are turning to other sales channels.

See also: The Gold Price in Vietnam: Explained 2024 

Mining news

Vietnam’s coal mining output down by double-digits year-on-year

Vietnam’s coal mining sector has seen a marked decline in output, according to the latest data from Vietnam’s Industrial Production Index. In September 2024, the index for the mining of hard coal and lignite fell by 9.3 percent compared to August. Year-on-year, the index recorded an even bigger decrease of 10 percent compared to September 2023. It’s not clear what has been driving this decline but it is also reflected in the mining industry more broadly which has recorded a 5.9 percent fall in production year-on-year.

See also: Vietnam’s Coal Power Industry

Pharmaceuticals news

US launches anti-dumping investigation into pharma capsules from Vietnam, others

The US Department of Commerce has announced an anti-dumping investigation into empty capsules for pharmaceutical products from Brazil, China, India, and Vietnam. The action has been brought by California-based Lonza Greenwood and an outcome is expected by December 9.

Of note, not only is the market for pharmaceuticals in Vietnam growing but the production of pharmaceutical products in Vietnam is growing too. According to Vietnam’s latest Industrial Production Index Data, pharmaceutical production, including drugs, pharmaceutical chemicals, and materials, posted a 15.4 percent increase year-on-year in September.

See also: Vietnam’s Pharmaceuticals Industry

Real estate news

Vietnam sees 34 percent drop in new units added to housing supply in Q3

Only 16 commercial housing developments were completed in the third quarter of 2024 with just 3,314 new housing units entering the market according to the latest Ministry of Construction data. This represents a fall of 33.79 percent from the second quarter of the year.

This comes after a challenging year for the real estate and construction industries which have been struggling following on from a number of high-profile arrests in the industry for fraud back in 2022. Though there has been some speculation that the industry is on the path to recovery, these numbers suggest there may be a way to go yet.

See also: Vietnam’s Real Estate Market Recovery 2024: Unpacked

Stock market news

Foreign trader 2024 net-sales cross US$3 billion mark

Over the last five trading sessions, to the close of business on October 31, in total, foreign investors had net-sold US$307 million worth of HCMC Stock Exchange stocks. This raises the total net-sold from the market by foreign traders this year to US$3 billion or US$3.56 billion over the last 12 months.

Note that Wednesday’s numbers reflect Australia’s Commonwealth Bank selling another 10 percent of its stake in Vietnam International Bank as part of a planned divestment announced earlier this year.

See also: Vietnam’s Foreign Investor Stock Sell-Off: Unpacked 2024

Foreign trader activity, last five trading days

BuySellChange
DateVNDUS$VNDUS$VNDUS$
25/101,043$41,239,1511,456$57,568,748-413-$16,329,597
28/10963$38,076,0331,420$56,145,345-457-$18,069,312
29/101,702$67,295,3366,828$269,972,125-5,126-$202,676,788
30/101,538$60,810,9441,688$66,741,791-150-$5,930,846
31/105,774$228,298,0457,392$292,272,107-1,618-$63,974,062
Total11,020$435,719,51018,784$742,700,116-7,764-$306,980,606

*billions

Source: Vietnam Stock Market Tracker

Trade news

Vietnam, UAE to cut most import tariffs under new trade deal

Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, Reuters has reported. The agreement, when fully actioned, will see the UAE reduce tariffs on 99 percent of Vietnam’s exports to the Middle Eastern nation with Vietnam removing 98.5 percent of tariffs on goods arriving from the UAE.

Vietnam’s network of Free Trade Agreements–FTAs–has become a cornerstone of its economic strategy, enabling the country to integrate more deeply into the global economy and expand its trade partnerships. Over the past few decades, Vietnam has signed numerous bilateral and multilateral FTAs, positioning itself as a key player in regional and international trade.

See also: List of Vietnam’s Tree Trade Agreements

The week ahead

There are a handful of events coming up this week. For more information see the: Doing Business in Vietnam: Events Directory 2024 

Also, Vietnam is a dynamic market that is changing rapidly. To keep updated to date with the business environment and how it is evolving make sure to subscribe to the-shiv.

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