Business stories from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox.
The Mekong Memo is proudly presented by:
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.
Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.
Headlines:
Dams Maximized Profit. Floods Maximized Damage.
AirAsia Finally Gets Its Vietnam Moment
Cold Rain, Long Lines, Three Percent Supply
Gas Bike Ban Leaves Millions in Limbo
Land Prices Get a 2026 Makeover
Boom Times Meet Tariff Jitters
QR Codes Conquer Cash
Shrimp Bonanza to China
Dollar Surge Creates Winners and Losers
Green Finance Gets Real
Anti-Corruption Machine Keeps Finding Material
Dams Maximized Profit. Floods Maximized Damage.
Central Vietnam is drowning. The floods that have battered Dak Lak, Gia Lai, and neighboring provinces since late October have now killed more than 90 people, left thousands stranded on rooftops, and caused damages of more than $340 million. And the rains keep coming. Some areas saw more than 1,200mm in just six days, shattering records. The Ministry of Agriculture is scrambling to overhaul forecasting systems that clearly were not built for what appears to be climate change’s new normal. Fingers are getting pointed at hydropower operators with accusations that they’ve been running reservoirs near capacity to maximize generation, leaving little room for flood control. When the deluge came, dams had no choice but to release water in sudden, dangerous bursts. The structural conflict is baked in - reservoirs that are optimized for profit are (tautologically) not optimized for safety.
Read more: VnExpress (Record Analysis), NDTV (Human toll), Vietnam Insider (Dam management failures)
AirAsia Finally Gets Its Vietnam Moment
After years of knocking on Vietnam’s aviation door, AirAsia may finally be allowed in. Vietravel Tourism is dumping its stake in Vietravel Airlines entirely, transferring ownership to T&T Group by year-end - and the Malaysian low-cost carrier is reportedly in talks to buy into the action. Vietravel Airlines launched in 2020, currently runs under tycoon Do Quang Hien’s 75% control, and has ambitions to expand its fleet to at least 10 aircraft. For AirAsia, this could end a chase that has stretched back the better part of a decade. For Vietnam’s aviation market, it will be another shuffle in an industry that seems perpetually in flux. Whether AirAsia can make the numbers work where Vietravel Tourism could not is the story to watch.
Read more: Vietnam News
Cold Rain, Long Lines, Three Percent Supply
Hundreds of Hanoians stood in cold rain this week, lining up for a shot at social housing. The scene was a diorama of the city’s housing crisis: affordable apartments make up just 3% of Hanoi’s supply, and commercial property prices have soared past what any ordinary worker can dream of affording. Digitized applications are being considered in order to help spare people the indignity of sidewalk campouts, and policymakers are being called on to hurry more affordable housing construction. The demand is there, but the supply is not even close.
Read more: VnExpress
Gas Bike Ban Leaves Millions in Limbo
Come July 2026, gas-powered motorbikes will get the boot from inside Hanoi’s Ring Road 1. The city is dangling subsidies for residents who switch to electric, with low-income households eligible for up to about $750. New buildings are going to be required to include EV charging infrastructure. The goal is to clean up the air, and Hanoi’s pollution problem is severe enough to justify aggressive action. The question nobody wants to answer is what will happen to the millions of riders who can’t afford the switch? Grab drivers, food delivery workers, street vendors - the informal economy runs on four-stroke engines. The policy announcement includes no retraining programs, no transition support for gig workers, no timeline for how the city plans to build out charging infrastructure in neighborhoods that lack reliable electricity. The goal is admirable. The plan to get there remains conspicuously absent.
Read more: Vietnam Insider
Land Prices Get a 2026 Makeover
Hanoi is rolling out its first comprehensive land price list on January 1, 2026, carving the city into 17 zones with valuations that could be significantly higher than current levels. The system is intended to improve transparency and help authorities coordinate data between districts. Industry players, however, are worried: big price hikes could hammer housing affordability and destabilize a market that’s already stretched thin. The city wants modernization, the market wants stability. Something is going to give.
Read more: VnEconomy
Boom Times Meet Tariff Jitters
Vietnam’s exports to the US have been on a tear - up 28% to reach record levels, with electronics jumping 78% and toys exploding 255%. The numbers seem to say “success!”: American companies are moving orders away from China, and Vietnam is catching the lion’s share of the windfall. Manufacturing FDI was registered at $18.2 billion through October, more than half the country’s total foreign investment. The timing, though, is loaded. The boom is coming at the same time that businesses are bracing for whatever tariff regime the Trump administration decides to settle on. The stocks of companies that should most benefit are trading cautiously, with investors hedging against a future that looks increasingly unpredictable as today’s boom could become tomorrow’s target.
Read more: The Investor (Stock market caution), Fibre2Fashion (FDI figures)
QR Codes Conquer Cash
Vietnam racked up nearly 18 billion cashless transactions in the first nine months of 2025 - a 62% jump in QR code payment volume (number of transactions), with value more than doubling. The unified QR standard has turned phone-based payments from novelty to norm. Retail is being transformed, consumer spending patterns are shifting, and the old cash economy is fading faster than most observers expected. The revolution, however, comes with tradeoffs that few are discussing. Every transaction now leaves a data trail. Street vendors and informal workers who thrived on cash anonymity are going to be pressured to formalize or get shut out. System outages can freeze commerce entirely. The digital payment future is coming, possibly with mobile phones controlled by a monkey’s paw.
Read more: VnEconomy
Shrimp Bonanza to China
Vietnamese shrimp exports to China and Hong Kong hit $1.1 billion through the end of October - a 64% leap that shows no signs of slowing. October alone brought it $140 million, a record. White-leg shrimp is at the forefront of the surge, and the CPTPP trade deal is helping clear the path. It seems fortunate both that the neighbor’s appetite for seafood is growing, and that Vietnam is able to feed it.
Read more: Vietnam News
Dollar Surge Creates Winners and Losers
The rising dollar is creating both winners and losers. Textile exporters like Thanh Cong, seafood giants like Minh Phu, and dairy producer Vinamilk are banking windfalls as USD revenues turn into more dong. On the losing side of the ledger, Vietnam Airlines and other companies that are hamstrung by dollar-denominated debt are looking at rising forex losses, and manufacturers dependent on imported inputs are getting hammered as margins compress. The State Bank is walking a tightrope, though - intervene too aggressively and risk depleting reserves, stand pat and watch import costs spiral. For businesses without a natural hedge, the lesson is familiar: currency exposure is not a risk you should ignore until it comes home to roost.
Read more: The Investor
Green Finance Gets Real
Nam A Bank has hooked up with the Global Climate Partnership Fund to create financing for “climate-resilient” agriculture, and Swedish firm Syre has announced a $1 billion textile recycling plant that it will put in Gia Lai province by 2027. The plant will convert polyester waste into PET pellets - Nike is already on board as a partner. Vietnam’s green transition is moving from conference-room rhetoric to actual capital deployment. Let’s see if the pace can match the ambition.
Read more: VIR (Climate finance), VietnamPlus (Syre plant)
Anti-Corruption Machine Keeps Finding Material
The food safety bribery scandal continues to expand: 14 people are now threatened with prosecution, including former deputy director Do Huu Tuan. In a separate case of malfeasance, Hanoi police are working their way through a massive fraud scheme at Egroup, the education company behind Apax Leaders English schools. The CEO allegedly paid VND32 billion to fake contract deals, inflating revenue by 70% and misleading more than 10,000 investors into buying shares backed by nothing more than hot air.
Read more: Food Safety News (Food safety probe), VnExpress (Apax fraud)
That’s it for this week!
Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back— hit reply and help us get better!
Thank you!