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State Bank Orders Deposit Rate Cuts, Threatens Credit Quotas

The State Bank of Vietnam has told commercial banks that they need to reduce average deposit rates by at least 0.5 percent. Official Dispatch No. 9736 applies to new deposits of six months or longer, and the difference will be measured versus each bank's rates as set from October 11 to 20. The central bank says that it will be tracking average rates on new transactions through its reporting system for the rest of 2026. Nearly 20 banks have already cut their deposit rates, most by the demanded 0.5 points. Fourteen have also announced lending cuts, those rates have generally been reduced by 1.5 to 2 points.

Read more: Vietnam News (loan-deposit gap), Tuoitre (bank credit packages)

Hung Wants 10% Growth for 2027

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has once again reminded lawmakers that Vietnam needs to be working toward GDP growth of at least 10% for FY 2027. It also wants to see GDP per capita of $6,100, labor productivity growth of 8.6% and consumer price growth in the neighborhood of 4.5%. GDP managed 9.95% growth in Q3 and 9.01% over the whole of Q1-Q3. Hung promised action to lower lending rates (see previous story) and steer credit toward exports, science & technology, and smaller businesses. Estimates for full-year foreign trade stand at $1.11 trillion, which would be the first time the number is able to clear a full $1 trillion.

Read more: VnExpress

PNJ Now Expects VND6.2 Trillion Loss

Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ) is now saying that it expects a VND6.2 trillion loss for 2026 which is a brutal thrashing when compared to its previous forecast for a VND3.4 trillion profit. Most of the swing is the result of VND7.1 trillion in provisions for potential trade-in losses. Requests to resell or exchange jewelry have skyrocketed since a diamond smuggling case involving a former director of PNJ Lab came to light. Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung says that none of the diamonds entered PNJ's business system, but that doesn’t seem to be having the calming effect hoped for. Share are down 68 percent since early July.

Read more: Vietnam News (revenue cut), Ww Fashionnetwork (share issuance)

Denmark is EU Comprehensive Strategic Partner

Denmark has become the second EU member to hold a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam. General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen adopted the joint statement in Copenhagen, upgrading their previous “Green Strategic Partnership” of 2023. Offshore wind is the primary commercial ask. The General Secretary wants Danish help with green finance and renewables projects along Vietnam’s 3,200+ kilometer coast. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Petrovietnam have also come to an agreement on a planned ~1,000 MW offshore wind project in the South Central region.

Read more: VnEconomy (EVFTA commitment), VnExpress (university campus), VnExpress (second EU partner), Scandasia (CIP agreements)

Corporate Bond Issuance Drops 26%, Yields Up

Vietnam's corporate bond issuance was down more than a quarter to 26 percent in Q3 versus Q2 and yields rose across the board. Companies were able to raise VND179.4 trillion ($6.93 billion), however, which was 7.8 percent more than did in the year earlier. Real estate issuance was down 55 percent. In the quarter, Vingroup took in VND16 trillion (down from Q2’s VND61 trillion), and Masterise held at VND23.5 trillion. The two groups typically make up as much as 80 percent of the property' sector’s issuance. Public offerings hit a record VND31.6 trillion; banks were behind half of the 16 deals. Outstanding corporate bonds were reported at about VND1,540 trillion at the end of September.

Read more: The Investor

EFTA Deal Scraps Duties on Norwegian Salmon

Norwegian salmon is going to be able to be imported into Vietnam duty-free once Hanoi's trade deal with Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein comes into effect. The current tariff is between 10 to 15 percent. Mackerel duties will go to zero over three years. About half of Norway's exports to Vietnam will become tariff-free on day one, and more than 98 percent of products will hit that floor within seven years. Vietnamese seafood exporters selling the other way need to meet product-specific rules of origin to qualify for lower tariffs. VASEP, the seafood exporter’s association, warns that Norwegian and Icelandic seafood could sharpen competition in Vietnam's premium restaurant, hotel and modern retail markets.

Read more: Vietnam News (supply-chain implications), VnEconomy (2023 salmon imports), SeafoodSource (signing ceremony)

HRW Finds No Independent Unions Despite Promises

Human Rights Watch says independent trade unions do not exist in Vietnam, despite labor law changes that were made in 2021. The HRW report says no regulatory framework makes allowances for them form, and that vague laws against dissent mean people who organize outside of state control often find themselves in jail. Hanoi has told trading partners, including the EU and EFTA, that the 2021 reforms allow workers to organize and that thousands of grassroots unions exist, but HRW says the only legal unions are under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, which the Communist Party controls. Party officials choose or approve those leaders, and its budget comes from the government and from mandatory fees that employers and workers are compelled to pay.

Read more: Human Rights Watch (political prisoners), Eurasia Review (HRW recommendations)

Alstom Bags Vingroup Order for Hanoi Metro Trains

Vingroup has secured a $897 million order with Alstom to supply Metropolis trains for Hanoi's new metro lines. Alstom hasn’t said how many trains the order represents, but this order is part of a larger 200-train agreement. Alstom is expected to build up to 83 of the trains in Valenciennes, France, and Vingroup plans to assemble the rest in Vietnam from Alstom components under a technology license. The driverless five-car trains are planned for lines that Vingroup unit Vinhomes started construction on in June. Hanoi already has two operational metro lines, but the new routes will total 303.5 kilometers, including a connection to Noi Bai airport. They’re due to be finished in 2030.

Read more: VnExpress (Hoa Lac route), Tuoitre (Q3 booking)

Petronas and Petrovietnam Sign Alliance

Petronas and Petrovietnam have agreed to a Strategic Alliance Agreement for exploration, LNG supply, downstream work, renewables and carbon capture. The PM3 area, on the Vietnam-Malaysia maritime boundary, is estimated to hold 60 million barrels of oil equivalent in its remaining reserves. The contract for that area has been reported by some to have been extended 20 years to 2047; but other reports say it’s (so far) only a framework for the extension. Petronas has delivered its first LNG cargo to PV GAS. A Vietnam-Malaysia-Singapore renewable power link, which Petronas is joining, is still at the cooperation-development stage.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review (PM3 extension), Vietnam News (energy security), Tuoitre (Hormuz risk)

FM Picks Five Crypto Exchanges, Licenses None

None of the five companies picked for Vietnam's pilot cryptoasset exchange program has an operating license yet, despite their apparent vetting by the Finance Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security and the State Bank. Each of the companies was required to show at least VND10 trillion (about $386 million) of charter capital, working IT systems and compliance with operating standards. Vietnamese crypto participation is one of the highest in the world, reaching $122.2 billion over the past year. The “chosen” firms will have one year from receiving their initial-stage certificate to meet any outstanding requirements.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review

VN Buget Arm Eyes Up To 25 A321neos

Vietnam Airlines is asking lessors to find them between 20 and 25 Airbus A321neos in a 240-seat configuration to allow them to get back to the low-cost market as early as 2027. The flag carrier is still trying to offload its stake in Pacific Airlines, the existing low-cost unit and already has 50 Boeing 737-8s on firm order for delivery from 2030 to 2032.

Read more: Ch Aviation

Draft Plan Offers 5-Year Tax Exemption for Talent

A draft National Assembly resolution would give talented individuals and their associates a five-year, 100 percent exemption from personal income tax on salaries and bonuses. It will apply to Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese and foreign nationals. Businesses in every economic sector could take part, including on tasks that use no state budget money. Degrees, titles and seniority would not be required, except where the law demands qualifications to practice a profession. The government would set criteria for each sector and locality. No timeline was given.

Read more: VnEconomy

Forestry Department Publishes Map for EU Rules

Vietnam's forestry department has published a map of the country's forests as of 2020 for timber, coffee and rubber exporters. EU deforestation rules require proof that products are not connected to any deforestation or forest degradation in the period since December 31, 2020, so the map can be used for cross-checking, but will not be used to enforce compliance. Exporters are expected to have traceability documents and other supporting evidence.

Read more: Vietnam News

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Hanoi Sends US Final Trade Deal Text

Hanoi has sent Washington the final text of a trade deal, and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc is pushing for a quick signing. Vietnamese goods already get a 12.5 percent US tariff as the result of a forced labor investigation, and two other investigations, into industrial overcapacity and intellectual property, could result in more duties being applied later. United States Commerce Assistant Secretary David Fogel says he is hopeful, but Washington is still somewhat uneasy about its trade deficit with Vietnam. US data put Vietnam's surplus at more than $163 billion from January through August. Washington also wants Hanoi to ease up on some of its foreign ownership limits.

Read more: Reuters (trade talks), Energy Connects (economic growth)

EU Readies Minerals Offer for To Lam Visit

Brussels is keen to put a concrete minerals offer on the table for To Lam's expected upcoming talks with EU leaders. Internal documents propose loans, grants and export credit insurance for mining and processing Vietnam's tungsten and rare earth reserves. The courtship is still tentative, though, as Vietnam is not one of the EU's 16 strategic raw materials partners, and the visit is still formally unannounced.

Read more: Reuters (EU proposal), Tech Insider (mineral reserves), Modern Diplomacy (mineral mapping), Firstpost (investment pact)

Hanoi to Sign EFTA Free Trade Deal Sunday

Vietnam is on the brink of signing a free trade deal with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Talks began in 2012, stalled, then picked up again last year as US tariff threats rattled global trade. The agreement covers a gamut of investment, intellectual property, competition and government procurement issues. Tangentially, Norway's State Secretary Astrid Bergmal has plans to press Hanoi over the detention of Norwegian citizen Nguyen Duc Thuan, a case Oslo says is a high priority (see also next story).

Read more: Reuters (trade deal and detention), Mezha (activist detentions)

Australian Activist Held on Terrorism Charges

Vietnamese authorities continue to hold Tran Hiep, a Melbourne-based democracy campaigner, on terrorism and document forgery charges. They say he is a member of Viet Tan, a pro-democracy group Hanoi says is a terrorist organization. His family hasn’t heard from him since he missed a flight from Phnom Penh in mid September when Hanoi says it arrested him as he tried to enter Vietnam from Cambodia with Norwegian citizen Nguyen Duc Thuan (see also previous story). Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong says she has raised the case personally, but has so far kept her public language restrained.

Read more: The Guardian

Ho Chi Minh City FDI Rises More Than Fourfold

Ho Chi Minh City was able to pull in $17.2 billion in foreign investment during the first nine months of this year which is more than four times the amount a year earlier and about 150% of the full year target. Industrial parks and export processing zones brought in nearly $5.7 billion, beating their annual goal by about a third. The city's industrial zone authority is preparing up to 6,800 hectares of serviced land through 2030 as officials promise fewer checks before approval, but with fixed deadlines and more audits after things are up and running.

Read more: VnEconomy

Proposals for Coal to Replace Stalled LNG

The industry and trade ministry is looking into the possibility of replacing long-delayed LNG power projects with coal plants under a draft revision of Power Development Plan VIII. The replacements could result in operations starting up sometime between 2031 and 2035, but construction should take at least three years from the time contractors are picked. The ministry is telling provinces to commit to the timetable and expects them to take any blame for delays while also asking the State Bank if financing is available and state coal suppliers if domestic mines have enough supply to feed the plants.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review

Traders to Set Fuel Prices

Fuel traders, not the state, would set pump prices under a draft decree that’s been floated by the industry and trade ministry. Under the plan, the biggest traders would declare changes to regulators and publish them at least 30 minutes in advance, and distributors would be allowed to charge no more than their supplier's published price. Regulators could investigate when two or more businesses controlling at least 30 percent of a local market worked to move (or appeared to work together to move) prices without a change in cost. Hanoi would retain the power to set caps or price bands in exceptional conditions.

Read more: Vietnam News

Closures Fast-Tracked as Dissolutions Double

The Finance Ministry has told the provinces to speed up company closures after more than 48,700 firms were dissolved in the first nine months of 2026, a doubling of the year-ago pace. Business registries are required to send files to tax officials within one working day of filing and then, once taxes are settled (or the tax office doesn’t reply for two days), the registry will get another day to consider the company closed. Firms that vote to dissolve but fail to file a full dossier within 180 days will be struck off unless there is an objection sent in writing.

Read more: VnEconomy

EU Moves Hanoi From Tax Blacklist to Gray List

EU finance ministers have removed Vietnam from their tax blacklist and put it on the gray list in a show of optimism, but while still letting it be known that concerns remain. Vietnamese and French tax authorities have also signed a cooperation agreement; an EU investment protection pact with Vietnam is still in front of the French National Assembly, with ratification expected by the end of the year.

Read more: VnEconomy

Da Nang Approves WHA Unit Industrial Park

Da Nang has approved a Singapore registered unit of WHA to build a 400 hectare industrial park in the Thang Binh and Dong Duong communes. The project will be worth more than VND2.7 trillion, or $105 million. The WHA's unit will put up about a sixth of the money and says it will raise the rest elsewhere. Da Nang city is requiring land for worker housing and public services as part of the deal and construction is scheduled in two phases from late 2027 to early 2034.

Read more: VnEconomy

Vinachem Restarts $492M Lao Potash Project

State chemicals group Vinachem has restarted a $492 million potash project in Nongbok district, Laos. The plant is expected to pump out 500,000 tonnes of potassium chloride a year to give Vietnamese fertilizer makers a steadier supply of a critical input material. The announcement doesn’t explain why work stopped, originally but also indicates that Vinachem and unnamed partners are also considering downstream processing at the site. Factory construction should wrap up by the end of December 2028.

Read more: VnEconomy

Starlink Brings Internet to Hai Phong Islands

Starlink and FPT Telecom have installed 10 satellite internet terminals for officials and emergency units on Hai Phong's Cat Hai and Bach Long Vi islands. For context, Bach Long Vi island is almost halfway between mainland Vietnam and the island of Hainan. Service will be free for six months. Starlink is the first foreign company that’s been licensed to run satellite internet in Vietnam.

Read more: The Investor (pilot details), Tuoi Tre (island rollout)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Growth 9.95%, Q4 Needs 12.5%

The economy expanded at a pace of 9.95 percent in the third quarter, its fastest trot so far in 2026. The official nine-month figure is 9.01 percent, though one bank came up with 8.9 percent. Imports rose nearly 37 percent while exports were up about a quarter, swinging the trade balance from a $16.87 billion surplus a year earlier to a $19.42 billion deficit. The numbers imply that if the nation will hit Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s full-year target of 10 percent, it’s going to need fourth-quarter growth above 12.5 percent.

Read more: VnExpress (official growth figures), VnEconomy (bank estimate), VnEconomy (fourth-quarter target)

Registered FDI Up 75%+ to $50.4 Billion

Foreign investors registered $50.36 billion in the first nine months, more than three-quarters above the year earlier investment tally. New projects were responsible for bringing in $29.24 billion (2.4x last year's figure); manufacturing and processing supported with $13.38 billion. Singapore led standings with $9.26 billion, almost a third of the new capital. Luxembourg ranked third with $4.99 billion, more than twice China's contribution. Disbursements found a five-year high of $21.07 billion, up about 12 percent.

Read more: VnEconomy

Samsung Arm Bets $1.88B on Chip Substrates

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is investing 2.51 trillion won ($1.88 billion) in its local subsidiary to make more FCBGA substrates. The substrates are used to connect AI accelerators, GPUs and CPUs to a mainboard. Production is due to start in June 2030, and the investment is part of a 6.78 trillion won program that has also allocated 4.27 trillion won to the company's Sejong operation in South Korea. Samsung says customer financing and long-term volume commitments are supportive of its heady plans.

Read more: Investment Monitor

Banks Line Up Nearly $7 Billion in Share Sales

VPBank wants to get a $560 million private placement as Japan's SMBC is in talks to raise its stake from 15 percent to 20 percent. Banks could collect nearly $7 billion from share sales by the end of 2027 - that would be the country's biggest bank capital drive yet. VPBank is one of three lenders that’s allowed to raise its foreign ownership cap to 49 percent. Strong credit demand and the shift to Basel III are forcing banks to find more capital.

Read more: Reuters

CB Shields $29B in Mega-Project Loans From Limits

The central bank has carved $29 billion in loans for 18 mega-projects out of its yearly credit growth limits. The big private groups behind them are asking for the same (or at least similar) treatment for 17 more projects that are going to need $36 billion. Bank credit has risen from 124 percent of GDP in 2021 to an estimated 143 percent at last reporting. East Asia Forum says smaller domestic companies, which have little access to bond and equity markets, are struggling as they need to navigate tighter loan conditions. Perhaps as a result, business registrations were down about 14 percent in July and full corporate dissolutions nearly quadrupled. More than 48,700 businesses shuttered during the first nine months of 2026, more than twice 2025’s figure.

Read more: East Asia Forum

Pandora Opens First Plant Outside Thailand

Pandora has opened a $150 million jewelry plant in Ho Chi Minh City, its first production site outside Thailand. The factory is able to make up to 60 million pieces a year. To give a sense of the scale of the operation, that will allow the Danish group to increase total capacity by about half. Goods from Thailand and Vietnam will face the same 12.5 percent US duty, so the new plant offers no immediate tariff savings, but it does give Pandora another option if Washington changes its mind on tariffs again. The factory is expected to employ 7,000 people once full production is underway.

Read more: CNBC (tariff calculus), Inside Retail Asia (factory capacity)

Russia Asks for Jets, Including Crew

Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin has asked local carriers to lease passenger jets to Russian airlines, complete with crews, maintenance and insurance. He says Hanoi is mulling the request over. Moscow kept more than 400 leased Western aircraft after its invasion of Ukraine, resulting in about $8 billion in insurance claims. Its 11 largest airlines now have 130 of 673 aircraft grounded, roughly twice the normal share. Because Vietnam’s flag carrier flies only Airbus and Boeing jets, any transfer could invite US secondary sanctions. Russia's approaches elsewhere have come to nothing, and Ethiopia rejected a similar proposal because of the same risk.

Read more: Euronews (Russian request), UA News (sanctions risk)

Vingroup Eyes 200 Metro Trains, Alstom Confirms Up to 83

Vingroup says its agreement with Alstom is for 200 Metropolis trainsets for Hanoi, including 117 to be assembled in Vietnam. Alstom would build the first 83 in France, then provide technology, tooling and some of the most critical parts for Vingroup to assemble locally. The driverless trains are intended for a network that Hanoi wants to run over 979 kilometers (18 lines) by 2045. Nobody has provided any indication of cost, and Alstom's announcement confirms only an order for "up to 83" trains once financing closes.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review (local assembly plan), Tuoi Tre (network ambitions), Alstom (confirmed order)

Nippon Paint Gets AkzoNobel Biz for $1.35 B

Nippon Paint has agreed to pay $1.35 billion for AkzoNobel's decorative paints businesses in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. AkzoNobel, which manufactures under the Dulux brand, expects to keep about $1 billion after tax and payments to minority partners. The sale comes after Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams dropped a €12.5 billion bid for the whole company. AkzoNobel is still trying to complete its merger with US coatings maker Axalta. The Indonesia deal is due to close in late 2026, and the rest should follow by mid-2027.

Read more: Tuoitre

Long Thanh Airport to Open but Airlines Hold Back

Long Thanh, billed as one of the world's most expensive new airports, is still expected to open near Ho Chi Minh City in December, but airlines remain wary of leaving Tan Son Nhat, and the new airport is expected to need no more than a tenth of its capacity through March 2027. The passenger and cargo terminals are two of four contracts that continue running under schedule pressure. The state-owned airport operator is funding and building the project. No private company is involved yet, though UK Export Finance has shown some interested in guaranteeing loans for nearby transport links. Full capacity is is expected by the late 2027 winter schedule.

Read more: Routes (airline reluctance), VnEconomy (construction schedule)

Regulator Wants All Hanoi Stocks on HCMC Exchange

The State Securities Commission wants every Hanoi Stock Exchange listing moved to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange by year-end. It is also considering two or three boards based on charter capital, foreign ownership, number of freely traded shares and compliance categorizations. Technical tests with the clearing depository are moving forward, but the regulator hasn’t set any transfer date yet.

Read more: Viet Nam News

Exporters Claim CPTPP Tariff Cuts on a Tenth of Sales

Exporters sold $70.6 billion of goods to CPTPP members in 2025, but only about a tenth of that total apparently qualified for the pact's tariff cuts with a “CPTPP certificate of origin.” That’s a low number, but it’s up off of a very low starting point - it just 2 percent in 2019, when Canada and Mexico were the only members who didn’t have any pre-existing trade deal. The main snags remain textiles and garments, which must prove qualifying origin from the yarn stage onward.

Read more: VnEconomy

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Australian, Norwegian Charged With Terrorism

The Ministry of Public Security has charged three men with terrorism and claims they they confessed to being members of Viet Tan, a US-based pro-democracy group that Hanoi says is a terrorist organization. Two of the three are foreign citizens. Ho Pham Hiep Huy, also known as Tran Hiep, is an Australian citizen, and Nguyen Duc Thuan is Norwegian citizen. Viet Tan says the pair disappeared near Kaoh Andaet in Takeo province, which is a different tale than the one the police shared which had them trying to make an illegal entry at the Tay Ninh border. The Australian Prime Minister says his government is providing consular help and talking with the man’s family. No word from the Norwegian government.

Read more: AP (the charges), The Guardian (the disappearances), The Japan Times (the arrests), BBC (police account)

Samsung Adds $1.84 Billion to Thai Nguyen Plant

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is putting up about $1.84 billion to expand its Thai Nguyen plant that makes high-end circuit-board parts for AI servers and data centers. The new line is planned for opening by April 2028. Company president Chang Duck-hyun says demand from servers and data centers already takes up more than half of the plant’s production capacity, and the project is part of Samsung's massive bet on producing the most cutting edge components. Its Thai Nguyen unit brought in about $16.2 billion of revenue in the first half of 2026.

Read more: VnEconomy

Ring Sent $462M to China With Fake Contracts

Prosecutors say Tran The Manh used seven front companies to move more than VND12 trillion (~$462M), to China in the five years between 2018 and 2023, disguising each transfer as a payment for imports. Declared imports totaled VND900 billion (~$34.6M). Manh allegedly opened accounts at dozens of banks, then had staff reuse cleared customs papers and forge Chinese company seals to pull of his caper. Because each of the banks couldn’t see what any of the others had approved, the same paperwork kept working. Manh, now on trial with 11 others, apparently took a personal cut of 0.04% to 0.08% from each transfer.

Read more: VnEconomy

S&P Ups Growth to 8% as HCMC Nears FDI Target

S&P Global Ratings has raised its 2026 growth forecast to 8%, up 1.3%, after the economy reported a growth rate of 8.18% in the first half. Ho Chi Minh City has reported $17.2 billion in foreign investment YTD, which is already more than one and a half times its annual target; the total is likely to get close to $19 billion by year-end. Factories aren’t driving the increase this time, however. A $4.9 billion Can Gio transshipment port and a $2.1 billion AI data center make up a big part of the story as the city’s investment mix is making a shift toward ports, logistics and computing. S&P expects inflation to average 4.7% for the year.

Read more: Vietnam News (GDP breakdown), VnEconomy (FDI project)

Electronics Exports Run $42B China Deficit

Computer and electronics exports were about $101 billion through to the end of August, which is more than half again as much as the first full eight months of 2025, but the industry imported roughly $162 billion in components, which is up more than two-thirds. About $59 billion of the chips, panels and circuit boards came from China, and finished electronics sold there brought in $17.2 billion, leaving a $42 billion gap. If all trading partners are taken into account, the sector ran a deficit of about $61 billion. The Vietnam Electronic Industries Association is trying to get more parts made locally, but it’s not going to come easy.

Read more: VnEconomy

Samarium Plant to Bypass China

South Korea's LS Eco Energy is investing about $8.4 million, for a nearly three-fifths stake in a new subsidiary, Global Shre Metal. Trial production of samarium metal will start in December using material from Australia's Lynas, the only large rare-earth producer outside China. The metal will be used to supply an LS Cable & System plant that makes samarium-cobalt magnets for missiles and (fighter) planes. A planned annual output of 240 tons could support the manufacture of 700 to 1,000 tons of magnets. US Defense Department rules will block Chinese material from this supply chain starting in January, but China overall still handles about nine-tenths of global rare-earth processing.

Read more: BusinessKorea (the Lynas partnership), The Elec (expansion plans), Rare Earth Exchanges (US sourcing rules), TechNode Global (the investment)

Tax Department Says 200 MNCs Owe GMT

About 1,500 foreign-invested projects have cleared the €750M/ ~$830M, revenue bar for the global minimum tax. The Department of Taxation says 200 multinational corporations (MNCs) owe money under the 15% rate, which overrides the tax breaks that have traditionally been used to lure investors. That rate puts their combined 2025 bill at about $624 million. Officials say that it’s a take-back of incentives that were already granted. Foreign investment commitments was $40.63 billion in the first eight months of 2026 and disbursement was at a five-year high of $17.25 billion.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review

China Canal Puts Can Tho Direct to Guangxi

The BBG Nan Ninh Bo Run has docked at Can Tho's Cai Cui Port, making it the first container ship to reach the Mekong Delta by way of China's new Pinglu Canal. It set sail from Nanning to the Gulf of Tonkin, then entered the Delta by the Hau River. The seven-day trip removes more than 560 kilometers from the old route that went by way of the Pearl River. Can Tho Port, Vietnam National Shipping Lines and China's Beibu Gulf Port Group are planning two sailings a month; each ship will carry up to 500 containers, about a quarter will be refrigerated boxes bringing Delta seafood and fruit to Guangxi. Port operators say the route could cut logistics costs by as much as almost a third.

Read more: Vietnam Briefing (canal cost), VnExpress (vessels)

Draft To Raise Minimum Wage, Ban Overtime Reductions

The National Wage Council has recommended an increase in the minimum wage and a draft decree from the Ministry of Home Affairs would raise the monthly figures in January 2027 by nearly 8% to VND5.7 million (~$220) in Region I and VND4.04 million (~$156) in Region IV. Employers would not be allowed to “claw back” the increase by reducing overtime pay, night-shift allowances or benefits in kind, a workaround that some of them used to reduce the impact of the ostensible cost of labor after previous legislated increases to the minimum wage. Companies would be required to update contracts and their pay rules. Hourly minimums would rise in step.

Read more: VnEconomy

Chevron, ExxonMobil Ink Deals with Petrovietnam

Chevron and ExxonMobil have signed separate framework agreements with Petrovietnam and its refining arm to open up new crude and gas supply channels. Chevron's deal covers possible cooperation on crude oil, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and refinery feedstock. ExxonMobil Asia Pacific's agreement with refiner BSR is expected to allow them to secure at least 2 million barrels of crude yearly for the Dung Quat refinery. BSR has been trying to broaden its supply base; imports from West Africa, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia were responsible for nearly a third of its crude last year.

Read more: TradingView (the supply agreements), Simply Wall St (the ExxonMobil deal)

VN-Index Slips in First Week After FTSE Upgrade

The VN-Index was down 1.68% in the week after its promotion to FTSE Russell's secondary emerging-market category, as foreign investors sold a net VND2.7 trillion. Turnover on HoSE dropped by nearly a fifth to VND12.34 trillion (~$475M). Brokers think the thin trading can be read as hesitation. FTSE is introducing 10% of the market's eventual weighting at first and phasing in the rest through 2027, so index funds today have flexibility to buy only a fraction of what their final allocations will be. It appears to be a classic case of buying the rumor and selling the news so far.

Read more: Vietnam Insiders ($2B inflow estimate), The Investor (Q3 earnings forecast)

Long Thanh Sets $25 International Fee

International flights out of Long Thanh will carry a $25 passenger service fee, which is five bucks more than Tan Son Nhat charges and the same as Hanoi's Noi Bai. Domestic passengers will pay VND90,909, about $3.50, with is the same at all three airports. Long Thanh is expected to open commercially on December 1. The Airports Corporation wants it to take every international route that’s over 1,000 kilometers in addition to charter flights and any new routes once Tan Son Nhat is full.

Read more: Vietnam News (passenger fees), VnExpress (capacity), Tuoitre (Ministry of Construction)

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Vanguard Puts $2.5 Billion Behind FTSE Upgrade

Vanguard's Duncan Burns said the asset manager expects to put about $2.5 billion of muscle into Vietnamese equities over the coming year. A $250-ish million first tranche will come soon as a result of FTSE Russell's September 21 upgrade of the market from “frontier” to “secondary emerging”-market status. Foreign investors bought a net 2.7 trillion dong ($104 million) on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange in the week leading up to the re-designation, and the debut itself was a little bumpy with the VN-Index falling nearly 16 points to slip below 1,800 as Vingroup and Vinhomes dragged on the benchmark.

Read more: Reuters (Vanguard investment), Vietnam News (market debut), Vietnam News (long-term reforms), Vietnam News (new accounts), Vietnam News (NYSE ceremony)

To Lam's New York Swing Nears a Trade Deal

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told To Lam that their two respective negotiating teams had come "very close to a final outcome" on a reciprocal trade deal. It is the best sign so far that Washington and Hanoi are wiling to sign the framework floated last October. Two-way trade was $137.4 billion in the first eight months of 2026, up more than 23 percent year over year; the US took almost a third of exports. Vietnam took $19.3 billion in American goods in 2025 but sold $153 billion the other way.

Read more: Reuters (trade talks), Vietnam Investment Review (final framework), Vietnam Investment Review (investor roadshow), Vietnam News (company meetings), VnEconomy (trade figures)

VinSpeed Signs Siemens Train Deal, Clears Mangrove for Track

VinSpeed signed a turnkey contract worth up to $1.15 billion with Siemens Mobility for 10 Velaro Novo trains. The companies are hailing the deal as the world's first ATO-over-ETCS deployment on a national high-speed network. The trains will run on both of the 121-kilometer Hanoi-Quang Ninh and 54-kilometer Ben Thanh-Can Gio lines. Ho Chi Minh City is also moving to “convert” 4.57 hectares of protective mangrove for the Can Gio line, including 1.4 hectares of natural forest inside the biosphere reserve's buffer zone. VinSpeed has promised to do replacement planting and, of course, has an approved environmental impact assessment, but the city has classified the line as an "urgent transport project," which has made the legal path to disturbing the forest perhaps a little easier.Both lines are anticipating commercial service in 2028.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review (Siemens deal), International Railway Journal (train specs), Nikkei Asia (rail plans), VnExpress (mangrove clearance), VnExpress (ownership)

Shark Thuy Charged in Phantom Share Case

Police have recommended prosecuting 29 people, including Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, the Egroup Education chairman better known to reality-TV audiences as Shark Thuy. The recommendation brings a closes to an investigation ordered after prosecutors sent the December 2025 indictment back for more work. Investigators say Thuy inflated Egroup's charter capital from VND32 billion to VND962.5 billion on paper before its affiliate, Egame, sold more than 206 million nonexistent shares to more than 10,000 investors between 2015 and 2023, promising to buy them back a year later at a profit. The total take was more than VND7.677 trillion (~$295M). Thuy has been under arrest since March 2024.

Read more: VnExpress (case details), Tuoi Tre (investigation)

Tesla Arrives but VinFast Owns the Sockets

Tesla Motors Vietnam now exists, at least on paper, but the plugs won’t… plug. VinFast's more than 150,000 charging ports don’t accept anything that isn't a VinFast whip, and its output makes up more than 90% of the domestic EV market. The second quarter of 2026 saw sales up almost 90 percent year on year. Pham Nhat Vuong's Vingroup does its best to keep that lead with an affiliated electric taxi fleet and a consumer empire that keeps the brand visible pretty much everywhere, from apartments to hospitals.

Read more: CNBC (VinFast advantage), Yahoo Finance (local company)

Washington Raises Bien Hoa Aid to $430M

The US and Vietnam have agreed to a new funding deal that will increase Washington's grant aid for the Bien Hoa Airbase dioxin cleanup to $430 million, with another $91 million for disability support in areas heavily sprayed with Agent Orange. The project has produced about 41 hectares certified to be clean since work began in 2019 and is expected to finish treating about 500,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil by 2031. Vietnam's defense ministry is also increasing its contribution to VND353 billion (almost $13.6M). Separate US support for Agent Orange victims and people with disabilities is $156 million at last report.

Read more: Tuoi Tre

Sun Group Races to Build Phu Quoc Rail, Runway and Airline

Sun Group is building the island's light rail, expanding its airport and introducing an airline to fly into it, and it wants it all done before APEC leaders arrive in November of next year. The 17.59-kilometer DT975 light rail from the airport to the APEC convention center has finished almost two-thirds of its technical trench work. Crews are running three shifts around the clock through the rainy season. The $2.2 billion Terminal 2 should be open in April 2027 and will increase airport capacity by half to nine million passengers a year. Sun PhuQuoc Airways has also taken delivery of its first widebody A330, one of eight that it expects to receive by the time Terminal 2 opens so it can use them on long-haul routes.

Read more: VnExpress (light rail), Tuoi Tre (airport expansion), VnExpress (new A330), VnExpress (aircraft parking)

HRW Hands Carney a To-Do List for To Lam

Human Rights Watch has given Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor General Louise Arbour a pointed brief in advance of To Lam's Ottawa visit. It includes more than 160 political prisoners and at least 28 activists who have been convicted so far this year, including bloggers Hoang Thi Hong Thai and Huynh Ngoc Tuan. Police have arrested at least 39 more people in 2026 for allegedly criticizing the government or joining disfavored religious or political groups. Vietnam also has yet to ratify ILO Convention 87 on workers' rights, which was expected to happen in January 2024 under its trade commitments with Canada. HRW wants Carney to bring up detained writer Pham Doan Trang and land-rights activist Can Thi Theu directly, and to warn that a failure to reform will hurt the bilateral relationship, including on trade.

Read more: Human Rights Watch

ADB Raises Growth Forecast to 7.8%

The Asian Development Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast to 7.8 percent, after a first-half GDP expansion of about 8.2 percent on the back of solid manufacturing, foreign investment and domestic consumption performances. August's PMI was 53.3, its highest read since March. Domestic firms' share of exports has dropped slightly from about a quarter in 2021 to a bit less than a quarter through last year. Foreign-invested companies grew exports by about a quarter last year and now command more than three-quarters of shipments. The trade deficit has been about $23 billion since January, mostly because machinery and components have been feeding largely foreign-owned factories.

Read more: Tuoi Tre (ADB forecast), VnEconomy (growth foundations), VnEconomy (domestic exporters)

Hanoi Ends Presumptive Tax as Household Firms Struggle

The government has done away with its presumptive tax system and raised the annual revenue threshold for VAT and personal income tax exemption to VND1 billion ($38,500). The change will affect about 3 million household businesses with tax obligations. A VCCI survey of more than 1,000 household businesses found more than four-fifths reporting lower revenue, a third saying that they plan to scale back. Fewer than one in 50 sees room for growth. Last year, almost three-quarters reported low profits and fewer than one in 50 say that they were able to meet their profit targets.

Read more: VnEconomy (business survey), Vietnam Briefing (tax rules)

Central Group Plans to Double Its Bet

Thailand’s Central Group plans to put up another $1.5 billion, matching what it has already spent since arriving in 2012. The retail giant says that its identified 200 urban sites for new malls, stores and hotels and has come to terms for a research partnership with resort developer Sun Group. CEO Olivier Langlet says land has become "very expensive," suitable plots are hard to find and murky regulations can complicate returns, but Central Retail's first-half revenue in Vietnam was more than 24 billion baht ($722 million), which was a fifth of its group total, so it’s a significant part of the business.

Read more: VnExpress

Rooftop Solar Push Stalls After Six Months

Six months after Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told everyone to speed up rooftop solar for homes, offices, schools and hospitals, only two of 34 provinces have been able to introduce household support policies, and just two of 17 ministries have finished their implementation plans. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is now trying to get agencies to complete investment plans and tap state budgets, while at the same time telling provinces to get household incentives in front of their People's Councils. Decree 243 sweetens the deal, letting households sell more than half of their surplus solar output (if they can get it) through 2030.

Read more: VnEconomy

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Growing-Markets Promotion Arrives

Vietnam is on the cusp of graduating from “frontier” to “secondary growing-market” status under FTSE Russell. The change is due on September 21. Twenty-seven stocks, including Vietcombank, Vingroup and FPT, will join the FTSE Global All Cap Index as a result. MBS Research expects about $180 million in ETF buying in the first phase and roughly $1.8 billion in passive inflows over the next year as Vietnam's investable weight rises from 10 percent to 100 percent by this time next year. Five Vanguard and Schwab funds holding a combined $458 billion will get exposure automatically, although Vietnam is starting with only 0.049 percent of the FTSE Growing Index. Foreign investors recently reversed course too, picking up a net $59.4 million of shares in two buying sessions after previously selling $117.8 million between September 3 and 11.

Read more: Tuoi Tre (stocks), Tuoi Tre (foreign buying), Tuoi Tre (market)

To Lam Brings 29 Deals to New York

To Lam will head to New York to address the UN General Assembly on September 22, then he’ll witness nearly 30 commercial agreements at a business conference on the 23rd. Most are of the deals are nonbinding, but still indicate a strong intent. Vietjet is expected to pen deals to lease as many as 22 aircraft, and SpaceX is signing up to bring Starlink internet to 120 of the their planes. Chevron and Murphy Oil plan to sign energy agreements with Petrovietnam, although a similar (also nonbinding) Chevron deal from February has yet to result in any purchase. The paperwork is getting done as Hanoi tries to close a trade deal with Washington after more than a year of negotiations, and with Trump's tariff threat still hanging over exporters. A meeting with Trump is hoped for but still unconfirmed.

Read more: Reuters (deals), The News (5G)

Vuong Sells VinFast a $1.2 Billion Property Lifeline

VinFast is buying a $1.2 billion property developer from founder Pham Nhat Vuong, in a deal that will provide the loss-making EV maker with new earnings and some cash flow. Vuong has also stepped down as CEO and handed the wheel to his 33-year-old son, Pham Nhat Quan Anh, who has chaired VinFast since May and continues to helm steel producer VinMetal. His younger brother, Pham Nhat Minh Hoang, 26, will take charge of ride-hailing arm Green SM as it gets ready for its IPO. The family fortune didn’t really move much in the shuffle - Vuong's net worth was up $800 million in two weeks to $37.4 billion, keeping him firmly in place as Southeast Asia's richest man.

Read more: Nikkei Asia (property deal), VnExpress (succession), VnExpress (wealth)

Hanoi Weighs First Dollar Bond Since 2014

The Finance Ministry and foreign banks are jawboning about the possibility of issuing Hanoi's first sovereign dollar bond since 2014. In that deal, it raised $1 billion at a 4.8 percent coupon. This time, the pitches include deals of the same magnitude, probably for a 10-year note at something near to 7 percent. The money would be used to fund infrastructure and take some of the pressure off of domestic banks, where credit has been growing faster than deposits since 2021. Public debt is about 37 percent of GDP (for reference, that’s well below Thailand's 64 percent and Malaysia's 66 percent).

Read more: Reuters

EVN Clears Losses, Faces a $32 Billion Tab

Vietnam Electricity was able to muster a $470 million profit in the first eight months of 2026, chairman Dang Hoang An told deputy PM Pham Gia Tuc, finally filling the nearly $2 billion hole it dug through 2022 and 2023. The parent company still had a $216 million loss at the end of 2025, but that has narrowed as revenue was reported at $18.55 billion, which is 70 percent of its annual target. EVN expects full-year profit to be in excess of $519 million. It is budgeting almost $32 billion through 2030 to add 93,000 MW of capacity under the revised power plan, including 6,066 MW of its generation and 1,700 MW of storage.

Read more: The Investor

Power Grid Growth Falls Below 10 Percent Target

Only 5 percent of projects under the national power plan are up and running, the Trade Ministry says, with the balance stuck in approvals or fights about who gets to build them. Supply is covering demand this year, but the ministry is expecting a 4,200 MW shortfall next year and by 2030, the gap could widen to 13,900 MW. The ministry wants to restart coal-fired plant proposals to cover for LNG projects that have been delayed and is also pushing to install roughly 2,800 MW of solar on government offices, schools and hospitals by the middle of next year. The urgency is somewhat understandable after blackouts shuttered production lines across the industrial north in 2023.

Read more: Energy Connects (power gap), Briefs (growth target)

Full Foreign Ownership Dropped From Draft Law

In what will come as disappointing news to many readers of The Memo, Vietnam’s Finance Ministry has removed explicit language that would have allowed for 100 percent foreign ownership from its draft Investment Law amendment. The State Bank warned that opening financial services, accounting, auditing and travel agencies to full foreign control could leave capital flows more exposed to global interest and exchange-rate swings. To be fair, the ministry seems less worried and continues to say that 10 of 91 restricted sectors already allow foreign investors to own as much as 99.9 percent of charter capital, making the joint-venture rule little more than a fig leaf that bears a compliance cost. The newest draft leaves any possibility of relaxation to the government on a case by case basis.

Read more: VnEconomy

Tesla Puts Up $3M as Market Entry Signal

Tesla has registered Tesla Motors Vietnam LLC with VND77.7 billion, (~$3 million), in charter capital and an office in Ho Chi Minh City. The license covers selling vehicles, parts and machinery, but bears no launch date, price list or information related to showrooms, service centers or charging stations. Musk took the same approach with Starlink, setting up a local subsidiary in advance of its satellite license being issued. Tesla would enter a market dominated by VinFast, which delivered 154,073 EVs through August and has led the country's auto rankings for 24 straight months.

Read more: Vietnam News (VinFast), Barchart (Tesla), VnEconomy (Starlink)

Thai King Flies His Own Plane to Hanoi

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, a licensed commercial pilot, flew himself and Queen Suthida in the first state visit to Vietnam by a reigning Thai monarch since the countries formally set diplomatic ties in 1976. After a 21-gun salute at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the King went on to lay wreaths at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, attended prayers at Quan Su Pagoda and met General Secretary and President To Lam. Thailand has 813 active investment projects in Vietnam and is its largest ASEAN trading partner. Two-way trade was $22.1 billion in the last full reported year of 2025.

Read more: VnExpress (investment), VnExpress (trade), VOV World (talks), VOV World (visit)

Regulators Open the Hood on Grab's Commissions

A threatened weekend Grab logoff never fully materialized, but the spectre of it seems to have gotten the attention of the National Competition Commission. The regulator met with Grab reps and is collecting fare, fee and commission records, in addition to gathering comparable documents some of its rival ride-hailing apps. Grab reportedly skims 20 percent off the top of the fares charged for two-wheel rides and 25 percent of the fare for four-wheel vehicles. Drivers say taxes and platform fees mean that total deductions from Grab end up being up to 50% of each fare, leaving them little remaining to cover fuel and vehicle wear, to say nothing of their time. The commission has told every platform that they’ll need to disclose their pricing and commission policies.

Read more: VnExpress

Canberra Grounds Pomelo Debut

Five months after pomelos from Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh Long and Can Tho hit the shelves of Australia, imports have suddenly been suspended for six months. Ag officials say that they found signs of pests on almost three quarters of consignments and an audit found incomplete monitoring logs, inconsistent trap placement and poor record-keeping at packing facilities. None of the pests was on Australia's quarantine watch list, but Canberra has apparently seen enough to warrant a crackdown. Hanoi has told provinces to review every registered growing area and packing code before exports will be allowed to start again. Citrus Australia, which represents an A$1.2 billion industry and opposed the trade from the start, (gleefully?) said the suspension is proof that the system is working.

Read more: ABC (industry), Tuoi Tre (resumption)

Orient Express Buys Into Luxury Sleeper

Arsenale, the Italian group behind La Dolce Vita Orient Express and the UK-based Golden Eagle, has bought a third of SJourney. The eight-day luxury sleeper train runs a 1,726 kilometer trip from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and financially broke even soon after its launch in 2024. The Rome operator hopes to eventually increase its stake to half and plans to invest 20 million euros, ($23.2 million), over the next five years. It is also eyeing expansion into neighboring Southeast Asian markets and a possible rebrand as SJourney by Golden Eagle.

Read more: VnExpress (journey), VnEconomy (investment)

Hanoi Offers Small Firms a 30 Percent Tax Cut

The Finance Ministry wants to cut personal and corporate income tax by 30 percent in 2026 and 2027 for households and businesses that have annual revenue that’s less than VND10 billion ($379,000). Firms would be allowed to calculate the discount themselves using projected revenue. If actual revenue exceeds the cap, they would owe the reduction back in full without any late-payment penalty.

Read more: Vietnam News

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Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

SK Group Pitches a Data Center

SK Group, which has $3.5 billion invested in Vietnam already, delivered a big pitch during National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man's stop in Seoul. Chairman Chey Tae Won put forward a proposal for a large AI data center and floated a "Hanoi Forum" for AI, semiconductors and energy. Deputy PM Ho Quoc Dung also took time for a tour of SK Telecom's Haein GPU Center, where more than 1,000 Nvidia Blackwell B200 chips are powering Seoul's sovereign AI push. Samsung and LG Innotek were also courted. Two-way trade was $89.5 billion last year, and both governments are keen to see $100 billion this year and $150 billion by 2030.

Read more: Vietnam Insiders (trade), Vietnam Insiders (ODA), VnEconomy (possible sites), VnEconomy (Korean investors)

China Now Takes a Quarter of Seafood Exports

Seafood exports were $8 billion in the first eight months of 2026, and that’s an increase of about 12 percent from last year. The buyer mix is changing a little though, and now China and Hong Kong are taking more than a quarter of the total. Those markets were responsible for about about three-fifths of the sector's growth, and it was helped by demand for shrimp, pangasius, and crabs. Sales to the US stayed flat at $1.24 billion, and the EU total also dropped a bit to $749.9 million.

Read more: VnEconomy

Hanoi Asks Paris for EUR235.6M Satellite Loan

To Lam is going from Moscow to Paris, where Hanoi is asking the French government for a EUR235.6 million loan so that it can buy the VNREDsat-2 earth observation satellite. The deal with Airbus has been in limbo for the best part of a decade because of financing hurdles. Macron's most recent (2025) state visit resulted in 15 agreements that were worth about EUR9 billion, and now the France-Vietnam Business Council is looking into the North-South high-speed railway and a resurrected civilian nuclear program. It’s possible that approval of the loan and the un-stalling of the satellite deal after eight years will re-invigorate the relationship.

Read more: Vietnam News (rail and nuclear pitch), Vietnam News (university branch), Tuoi Tre (Paris visit), Vietnam Insiders (trade), Intelligence Online (Airbus financing)

Nissha Unwinds Stent Deal After 105 Days

Japan's Nissha bought 60 percent of USM Healthcare Medical Devices Factory in May to build a Southeast Asian contract manufacturing business for cardiology stents and orthopedic devices but it’s already sold the entire stake back to USM. Nissha says its post-merger review uncovered improper bookkeeping involving circular transactions that predated the purchase and was initiated by USM staff without its knowledge. Outside experts are still looking into the thing, but Nissha is trying to figure out the final financial result of the sale. Caveat emptor.

Read more: App Dealroom

Novaland Sells Assets to Keep Debt Current

Novaland has unloaded four of its assets worth VND11.3 trillion, taking care of almost three-quarters of their VND15.6 trillion disposal plan that’s intended to keep its lights on debt payments current. Five more properties are still for sale; agreements are in place for VND3.9 trillion of them. Standing property inventory stood in excess of 39,000 units during Q2 as buyer interest was down through the month of May. Credit is tighter too; developers sold almost VND4 trillion of bonds in August at an average coupon of 12.2 percent.

Read more: Vietnam News

Vietnam and Russia Ink Oil Reserve Deal

To Lam and Vladimir Putin have agreed to a framework for building a strategic oil reserve, and its the headline result of Lam's three-day state visit to Moscow. They also opened a laboratory together at the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Center by way of a video link. Lam met Zarubezhneft chief Sergei Kudryashov to talk about their shared four decades of joint oil ventures, including Vietsovpetro, and spoke with AFK Sistema founder Vladimir Yevtushenkov about high-tech investment. Putin dangled visa-free entry for Vietnamese citizens "in the near future" but didn’t go as far as offering any sort of a timetable.

Read more: The Moscow Times (nuclear power), VnEconomy (visit), Voice of Emirates (security)

Grab Drivers Plan a Two-Day Log-Off

A recent story tearing through Vietnam is of the VND19,500 ($0.74) that was left in a local drivers pocket after taking a VND37,000 ($1.41) GrabCar fare. That’s of course, little more than half of what the passenger paid after platform fees, insurance and tax were taken off the top. Grab applies a "flexible app usage fee" to take fees from the drivers that changes with time, location and demand. Drivers say that makes earnings impossible to predict and, as a result, are planning to refuse trips on September 12 and 13 in protest.

Read more: Tuoi Tre

Russian Tourists Fill the Beaches

Russia has become Vietnam’s third-largest source of foreign visitors. The first seven months of 2026 saw 863,500 arrivals. That’s almost four times the figure a year earlier. Vietnam Airlines has added a fourth weekly Hanoi-Moscow flight, Vietjet is opening routes from Da Nang and Nha Trang, and Aeroflot will begin flying from Moscow to Phu Quoc in October. Anex Vietnam also expects to carry 13,000 to 15,000 charter tourists to Phu Quoc.

Read more: Tuoi Tre

2G Airwave Auction

With the country's 2G networks closing on September 15, the Science and Technology Ministry is auctioning off three paired 900MHz blocks so that they can be put to new use. Bidding for each 15-year license starts at VND1.056 trillion ($40.2 million). Operators will be allowed to buy up to two blocks; they’ll need to put down VND55 billion for each. Viettel has already retired its 3G network, while VinaPhone and MobiFone continue to keep 3G going alongside their 4G and 5G offerings.

Read more: Developing Telecoms

Taiwan Runs Its First Trade Deficit

Taiwan ran its first quarterly trade deficit with its southern neighbor in early 2026 as its imports of Vietnamese electrical machinery, appliances and components saw a gain of 173 percent through May. That deficit reverses a decades-old pattern in which Taiwan traditionally sent components south for cheap assembly. Vietnam's share of global AI hardware trade went up from 1.2 percent in 2015 to 12.4 percent in 2025, which HSBC says was the steepest increase by any economy during the decade. Manufacturing and processing were responsible for $17.91 billion in foreign investment in the first half of 2026, almost two-thirds of all new and expanded capital.

Read more: Vietnam Insiders

Bamboo Airways Ex-Chair Barred Over Tax Debt

The tax authority of Gia Lai has asked immigration police to stop Nguyen Ngoc Trong (more commonly known as “Sam”), from leaving the country until Bamboo Airways ponies up VND44.06 billion ($1.7 million) in back taxes. Sam is listed as the airline’s beneficial owner and held two stints as chairman. The investor group he represented gave the carrier back to former owner FLC Group last year after admitting that its financial and management problems were beyond their ability to handle. He stepped down as chairman in November but remained on the board. Bamboo Airways currently flies a single aircraft and has stopped regular domestic service. The ban is expected to be lifted once the debt is settled.

Read more: VnExpress

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.

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Hanoi Trades Tax Holidays for Talent and Tech

Politburo Resolution No. 10 tells foreign investors the old deal is off. Hanoi is done competing firstly on tax breaks now that the Global Minimum Tax has more or less removed the advantage that approach previously brought. Instead, officials are offering to co-fund infrastructure, subsidize R&D and technology transfers, and pay to train the engineers needed by multinationals, while fast-tracking visas and work permits for semiconductor, AI and data center projects. Registered FDI was $38.06 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up 58 percent from the year prior, and disbursed FDI was $15.2 billion, the highest seven-month total in five years.

Read more: VnEconomy

Samsung's Plants Print More, Keep Less

Samsung's four plants raked in $17.3 billion of Q2 revenue, up 20 percent, but combined profit was down almost a fifth to $996 million as its smartphone business took a hit. Thai Nguyen's SEVT, the flagship phone plant, saw profit drop to $361 million from $571 million, as margins were slashed from 9.1 percent to 4.8 percent. Bac Ninh's SEV lost almost a quarter of its profit (margins similarly down to 5.8 percent from 9.2 percent). The pressure came from upstream, as global smartphone shipments dropped 11 percent in the weakest Q2 since 2013. A memory chip shortage also pushed component costs up. Not every plant suffered however - display maker SDV saw its best margins since Q3 2023, and HCMC's SEHC grew profit more than 20 percent to $94 million on $1.5 billion of revenue.

Read more: Tuoitre, VnExpress

Deputy Health Minister Detained in Bribery Case

Deputy Health Minister Tran Van Thuan, 56, has been held on a bribery charge under Clause 4, Article 354 of the Penal Code. That makes him the highest-ranking person caught so far in the Viet My Medical investigation. Thuan, an oncologist who ran K Hospital before joining the ministry in 2020, is accused in a case that came to light in July with the arrests of Viet My chairman Bui Chan Phuong, director Ha Van Nam, and accounting chief Tran Thi Hong Hanh on smuggling and accounting charges. Phuong ran three companies in Vietnam, five in Singapore and three in Hong Kong, cycling medical equipment and drugs through the offshore network to inflate prices before selling them on to Vietnamese hospitals. Police are still tracing the money and other officials involved.

Read more: Tuoitre

CP Vietnam Cracks Korean Chicken Market

C.P. Vietnam sent its first shipment of processed chicken to South Korea after more than half a decade of effort that began with the $250 million CPV Food Binh Phuoc complex. The company was required to fill out two questionnaires of about 1,000 pages each and hosted South Korean quarantine and food safety inspectors on-site for half a year under an eight-step assessment. The market opened when Seoul and Hanoi each allowed two companies to trade processed chicken, and C.P. Vietnam was the first Vietnamese firm to do what was needed to get a foot in the door. Its chicken now ships to eight markets, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review (plant), VnEconomy (approval), VnExpress (next steps)

Qualcomm Wants Vietnam in Its AI Top Three

Cristiano Amon told General Secretary To Lam that Qualcomm is treating Vietnam as a "high-priority" in its Asia plans and hopes to make the country its third-largest AI R&D hub. The chipmaker already runs an R&D center in Hanoi and has worked with Viettel and VinSmart for two decades already. Lam wanted more, though, pushing for more technology transfer, management know-how, and ties to Vietnamese universities/ suppliers so local firms move up the value chain instead of just playing host foreign engineers. Qualcomm's interests fit Politburo Resolution No. 10 (mentioned in the first story, above), which is moving incentives from tax breaks toward R&D and talent development.

Read more: VnEconomy

Toyota Commits $283M to EVs in Phu Tho

Phu Tho's provincial government handed Toyota Motor Vietnam an amended investment certificate as it upgraded its factory there to a $283 million project with capacity for about 52,000 vehicles a year. The new permit adds electrified vehicle assembly to a plant that has spent decades building gasoline-powered Camrys and Vios sedans, in addition to the stamping and painting workshops meant to support future CKD models. Construction is expected to start in May, which puts Toyota years behind VinFast, whose EVs are already on the road.

Read more: VnEconomy

Tay Ninh Gets $3.5B Data Center Pitch

A three-party consortium of SAIGONTEL, World Vista United, and SAIF Eagle II gave Tay Ninh's People's Committee a Letter of Interest for a data center built to Tier IV specs, including “5 nines” uptime, direct liquid and immersion cooling, and racks dense enough to draw 150kW each. The pitch foresees latency of less than 18 milliseconds to Singapore, which is an indication that AI workloads are in the crosshairs. No permits have been issued and no financing has closed yet, however, so for now it is just a letter of interest. Construction is expected to be started late this year with commercial operations starting next year.

Read more: Vietnam Investment Review

Dong Nai to Build $2.29B Airport Metro Link

A government decision is giving Dong Nai Province, not HCMC, the job of running a 44.5-km metro extension to Long Thanh Airport as a public-private partnership. The VND60.26 trillion ($2.29 billion) build would be done in two phases, first a 7.1-km stretch from Suoi Tien to the new administrative center, then a further 36.3 km to the airport. It will require about VND4.32 trillion in resettlement costs to buy land and move people out of the way. Construction is slated for 2026 to 2030, which would get it open about six years after the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line started as the city's only metro. Long Thanh airport itself is expected to open on December 1.

Read more: VnExpress

Crypto Rule-Breaking Costs

Decree 284/2026 took effect Tuesday, with fines of VND200 million ($7,671) for mishandling crypto account data and a mechanism to allow regulators to suspend trading for up to 12 months for repeat anti-money-laundering failures. A skipping of customer identity checks will attract fines of up to VND120 million; operating without internal AML policies gets a VND200 million ceiling, in addition to the forced surrender of illicit gains. Chainalysis estimates 2025 taxable crypto activity in Vietnam at $8.1 billion, which is equal to about nine percent of the government's $89.9 billion expected revenue and the sixth-highest ratio on the planet. Payments account for $5.2 billion of that, nearly two-thirds of the total, dwarfing $1.8 billion in profits and $1.1 billion in income.

Read more: Tuoitre, VnEconomy (global ranking)

Hanoi Wants All Permits Online by 2027

Resolution 258/NQ-CP is putting the order in to make every “eligible” administrative procedure available by way of an online portal by sometime next year. Paperwork will be expected to be submitted only once and can be reused between agencies in a push that will support the government's double-digit growth hopes through 2030. The Ministry of Finance is also rewriting the 2017 SME law, which would raise the revenue threshold for SME status to VND400 billion ($15.7 million) and allow micro-enterprises with revenue under VND10 billion pay tax on turnover instead of profits. Neither change will affect the cost of shuttering a company - dissolving a long-dormant company can run to costs of as much as VND100 million ($3,800) once back taxes, license fees and late-filing penalties are considered, which is about 20 times the cost of what it typically costs to get a company registered in the first place.

Read more: VnEconomy (Resolution 258 text), Vietnam Insiders (SME law draft), Tuoitre (dissolution costs)

SHB Dangles 9.2%

SHB pushed its six-month deposit rate to 9.2 percent, up 0.2% in two weeks, even though Agribank pays just four percent for the same term and Vietcombank offers a relatively paltry 3.5 percent online. VPBank raised its six-month online rate to 8.8 percent. The State Bank of Vietnam is pushing commercial lenders to funnel cash toward small and medium businesses, with 12 banks registering VND408 trillion ($15.6 billion) in credit programs. Lending rates for SMEs have dropped 0.2 to 0.7 percentage point, even as deposit costs have been climbing. What these rates might tell about the health of the system will be left as an exercise for the reader.

Read more: Tuoitre

Can Tho Airport Cuts Fees to Win Back Airlines

Can Tho International Airport now runs a grand total of zero international routes, even thought the Department of Construction says it has the capacity to handle more traffic than it currently has. The proposed fix is a two-year, 50-percent cut in takeoff, landing, and air traffic control fees. The Ministry of Finance killed an earlier plan to subsidize airlines directly as it said the idea was inconsistent with the State Budget Law. City officials are betting that tourism might be able to do what subsidies couldn’t. Can Tho brought in 10.5 million visitors through the end of August, but the bigger threat is Long Thanh, the new airport being built outside Ho Chi Minh City which is, of course, aimed squarely at international routes.

Read more: Tuoitre

Autonomous Vehicle Trials at Hoa Lac

The Hanoi People's Committee signed off on a 24-month trial allowing for autonomous buses, robotaxis and delivery robots to be unleashed at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park. The vehicles will use LiDAR, HD 2D and 3D maps and AI on an 11.5 km route. Buses get an eight-passenger cap, robotaxis four. Speeds are limited to 40 km/h, and operations will be suspended during heavy rain, fog, thunderstorms or flooding. Each vehicle needs a licensed safety supervisor onboard ready to grab the wheel. Registration, license-plate and inspection rules will be waived inside the zone, and commercial fares are banned for the entire trial. The Department of Science and Technology says it will evaluate results after the 24-month window before deciding next steps.

Read more: VnExpress

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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