News from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox every weekday.
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.
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.
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.
If you value the Mekong Memo, please consider buying (or gifting!) a paid subscription, sharing it on social media or forwarding this email to someone who might enjoy it. Please also “like” this newsletter by clicking the ❤️ below (or sometimes above, depending on the platform), which helps us get visibility on the Substack network.