Vietnam

Chipmaking giants face triple tariff hit

9 Apr 2025

Semiconductors are exempt from Washington's levies, but that may not last. The blow to global demand for phones and other electronic items also will hurt $640 bln TSMC, Samsung and peers. Meanwhile, surging import costs will disrupt their bold plans to set up factories in the US.

Vietnam faces some very dark days ahead

7 Apr 2025

Officials visiting the US this week must convince Washington to slash a 46% tariff or face a big shock in the Southeast Asian economy. Hanoi can trim the $123 bln trade surplus a bit but its power to avert a crisis is limited so long as it is caught between the US and China.

Vietnam’s stability gets rude $24 bln shock

18 Apr 2024

At nearly 6% of GDP, a rescue of Saigon Commercial Bank is just shy of how much rich nations spent on bailouts during the financial crisis. The fallout will ripple through boardrooms around the world. The Asian country looks unstable as its importance in supply chains rises.

VinFast charges up its stock market unsuitability

9 Jan 2024

The $16 bln electric-vehicle maker has replaced both its CEO and CFO within five months of going public via a SPAC. The new boss is founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who owns almost all its stock. The latest moves are a reminder that VinFast looks and acts like a private firm.

China’s lead in Southeast Asia appears fragile

14 Dec 2023

Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam this week shows he is reinforcing alliances in the region as fast as he’s letting others slide. Yet while China's $722 bln trade relationship with the bloc dominates, distrust of the country is rising too. That’s a bad signal for future business.

VinFast’s volatile stock has an easy, painful fix

30 Aug 2023

Vietnam’s nascent electric-car maker capped a flighty first fortnight on Nasdaq with a 44% fall on Tuesday. Blame its tiny sub-1% free float. Selling new shares would reduce trading swings and raise cash the $107 bln firm will soon need. It requires crashing its zippy valuation.

Vietnam’s Tesla charges itself up for a big fall

16 Aug 2023

VinFast shares leapt 270% on their Nasdaq debut following the group’s $27 bln merger. A cosy shareholding structure boosted the valuation to 16 times its US rival but tycoon Pham Nhat Vuong’s EV maker has teething problems. Outsiders will be exacting when he needs to raise money.

VinFast’s $27 bln SPAC deal belongs in scrapyard

17 Jul 2023

Most of the acquiring blank-cheque company’s investors opted for their money back rather than own the Vietnamese EV maker. The buyer could try to trim the heady valuation. But with the Tesla wannabe’s low US sales and poor reviews, ditching the deal is better than patching it up.

Vietnam’s Tesla debuts with wrong kind of power

15 May 2023

VinFast is going public at a sales multiple seven times its rival. Merging at a $27 bln valuation with casino mogul Lawrence Ho’s SPAC secures it a listing in the US where the electric-vehicle maker is expanding. But it needs funding and an inflated 2021-style deal doesn’t help.

Vietnam’s export prowess turns to excess

13 Mar 2023

Its economy grew 8% last year as companies like Samsung and Foxconn powered an export boom. Now overseas demand is slumping amidst a local credit crunch and a corruption crackdown. Vietnam’s underdeveloped domestic market has left it overexposed to external risks.

Vietnam’s Elon Musk challenger turns heads in 2023

21 Dec 2022

Le Thi Thu Thuy is steering VinFast onto Western roads to race the entrepreneur’s premium marque, Tesla. She’ll have to convince investors in its New York IPO to look past niggles at its powerful parent. It’s a complex route, and puts the former Lehman banker in the spotlight.

Vietnam’s Tesla faces daunting Nasdaq road test

7 Dec 2022

Electric-car maker VinFast has filed for a U.S. IPO. It is unprofitable, has only just gone all-in on battery power, and its dependency on parent Vingroup may be a turnoff, too. The young marque could make a case for a $5 bln valuation, but investors will kick the tires hard.

Vietnam electric car whizz takes ambitious road

9 Feb 2022

Carmaker Vinfast is going all-electric and aims to sell overseas. The strategy combines conglomerate power through parent Vingroup with potential for a faster-than-expected shift to new energy vehicles in Southeast Asia. It maps a decent drive to a mooted $3 bln U.S. listing.

Southeast Asia still loves New York

10 Jan 2022

While U.S.-listed Chinese companies move home, Indonesian and Vietnamese startups are eyeing a berth in the Big Apple. Unlike their northern peers, these hopefuls are starting with home floats. Ensuring IPOs fill local coffers first is good politics and makes financial sense too.

Subpar Asian trade deal shines in splintered world

16 Nov 2020

Fifteen nations accounting for 30% of global GDP will slash tariffs and ease the movement of goods in the region. India’s absence is among the disappointments of the long-awaited pact. Even modest progress counts for a lot considering the sad state of U.S. and UK trade affairs.

Viewsroom: Stock underwriting bonanza, Vietnam

18 Jun 2020

Equity capital markets bankers are having their day in the sun as companies scramble to raise money while central banks pump liquidity into the financial system, Breakingviews editors explain. Plus: Asia columnists Robyn Mak and Una Galani chew over Vietnam’s productive pandemic.

Vietnam can build on its good crisis

17 Jun 2020

The Southeast Asian economy checked Covid-19 and is set to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world this year. It’s already a manufacturing dynamo. As global trade slumps, Vietnam looks like a good destination for companies as they shift supply chains out of China.

Thailand’s capital markets are anything but sick

10 Jan 2020

Central Retail is raising up to $2.7 bln in a record IPO, putting the country on course to be top for new issues in Southeast Asia for a fourth year. As Thai Inc looks abroad for growth, helped by a strong currency, it’s a reminder that the market’s relative maturity has upsides.

Asia’s airports fly far higher than its carriers

5 Nov 2019

Thai Airways’ market value has shrunk by a third this year to $600 mln, and the loss-making airline says it is running out of time. Airports of Thailand, by contrast, is worth $38 bln and is a top performer. It’s a light signal for investors eyeing the region’s travel boom.

The Exchange: The Asianisation of the world

17 Sep 2019

A splintering West and increasingly interconnected East is creating a newly powerful mega-region, according to Parag Khanna, author of “The Future is Asian.” He swung by the Breakingviews office in Hong Kong to break down the economic and geopolitical rationales behind his idea.