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Headlines:
US Trade and Negotiations
FDI Sets Country Up as Manufacturing Center
HCMC Speeds Railway Development
Market Upgrade Triggers Reform
Export Boom Drives Expansion
Energy Moves in Renewables and Nuclear
Regulatory Improvements For Better Business
An E-Commerce Star is Born
US Trade and Negotiations
The fifth round of in-person negotiations for the Reciprocal Trade Agreement wrapped up on November 14 in Washington DC, with both sides saying they’re making progress on services, digital trade, agriculture, and technical barriers to trade. The deal will keep US tariffs on Vietnamese goods at 20% but will also make allowances for zero-tariff access for certain US exports. A new social-commerce partnership between VIPTAM Group and InLog Corporation targets $50 billion in two-way trade between 2025-2035, starting with $1 billion in 2025-2026.
Read more: Asian News Network (Trade Talks), RFD-TV (Cotton Trade), Vietnam News (VIPTAM Partnership)
FDI Sets Country Up as Manufacturing Center
Foreign direct investment continues to impress, so far up about a seventh over last year’s haul. Manufacturing and processing raked in $18.2 billion (57.8% of total registered capital). Details of some of the details below.
Read more: Vietnam News (FDI Growth), VnEconomy (Industrial Production), Vir (Luxshare Plans), The Investor (Lite-On Investment), OpenGov Asia (Semiconductor Strategy), VnEconomy (US Investment)
HCMC Speeds Railway Development
The city plans to complete 232 kilometers of urban railway by 2030 with an outlay of almost $20 billion. Six priority projects will run from 2025 to 2030, including Metro Line 2 segments, a railway to Long Thanh, and the Ben Thanh-Can Gio railway. The Ben Thanh-Can Gio Metro line will break ground on December 19, in a $3.3 billion project to reduce traffic congestion and promote development in Can Gio. The urban railway network is part of a national plan including seven routes totaling 547 kilometers and 27 urban routes running more than 1,000 kilometers.
Read more: VnEconomy (Railway Plan), VnEconomy (Waterway Corridor)
Market Upgrade Triggers Reform
FTSE Russell upgraded the country from Frontier to Secondary Emerging Market status on November 17 in a move that will take effect in September 2026. The upgrade is expected to bring $3-5 billion in passive inflows as the country joins the FTSE Emerging Market indices. Regulators are writing new rules to allow startups to list on the stock exchange, rewriting regulations for foreign investors, and reviewing foreign ownership limits in IPO-linked listings. The State Securities Commission is evaluating midday trading sessions to increase liquidity and bring the local bourse’s practices in line with global markets. Big infrastructure upgrades, including the KRX trading system and CCP clearing, are still expected to launch in early 2027.
Read more: Portfolio Adviser (Market Upgrade), The Investor (Startup Listings), The Investor (Short Selling), VnExpress(Vingroup Project)
Export Boom Drives Expansion
Total export values have reached about $391 billion in the first ten months. The nation’s trade surplus has risen to almost $19.56 billion. Electronics exports hit approximately $87.3 billion, with computers and electronic products reaching $87.29 billion, up 47.9%, contributing more than half of total export growth. The US is still the largest market at $34.14 billion, up 78%. Seafood exports are projected to beat $8 billion in 2025, beating even the $6 billion target that had been expected for 2030. Coffee exports YTD are up 61.8%, with the average price $5,653 per tonne, a 42.5% rise.
Read more: VnEconomy (Electronics Exports), Vir (Export Growth), VnEconomy (Seafood Exports), Retail News Asia(Coffee Exports)
Energy Moves in Renewables and Nuclear
Khanh Hoa province is expediting site handover for Nuclear Power Plant Projects 1 and 2, planning to complete site clearance and land transfer before New Year’s Day. Ha Tinh province has managed to reel in 36 domestic projects worth more than VND107.78 trillion ($4.09 billion) YTD, prioritizing renewable energy projects, including the Ky Anh Wind Power Plant and 47 turbines. REE Corp increased its energy division’s charter capital by VND3.25 trillion ($124 million) to invest in wind turbines. The government proposed guaranteeing LNG power projects a minimum 75% offtake for up to 15 years, up from 65%.
Read more: Vietnam News (Nuclear Plans), VnEconomy (Ha Tinh Investment), Nikkei Asia (REE Capital), Vir (LNG Guarantees), Water Power Magazine (Hoa Binh Expansion)
Regulatory Improvements For Better Business
The government is swinging an axe to try to simplify administrative procedures that are currently managed by 14 ministries. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told his ministries to hurry the simplification of 2,164 administrative procedures and 2,047 business prerequisites, with priority on 319 documents across 14 ministries by year-end. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is being told that it needs to reduce business prerequisites by at least a third. The plan is to make sure administrative procedures for businesses are all going to be processed online by the end of this year. The minimum wage will increase by more than 7% effective January 1, 2026, ranging from VND3.7 million to VND5.31 million ($141-202) per month based on regional variations.
Read more: OAN (Procedure Cuts), Vietnam News (Reform Acceleration), Trading View (Wage Increase), Vietnam Insiders (Foreign Worker Rules)
An E-Commerce Star is Born
Amazon plans to make Vietnam its e-commerce export hub for Southeast Asia beginning next year. The number of Vietnamese products on Amazon has risen more than 300% in the last five years, and the marketplace now features 18 million such listed items. Payoneer took part in the Amazon Global Selling Conference early this month, an event that is intended to help Vietnamese SMEs overcome cross-border payment issues. The Ministry of Trade and Industry is finalizing policies for 2026-2030, including a National e-commerce development plan.
Read more: Vir (Amazon Hub)
That’s it for this week!
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