Vietnam Economic News: 22.3 – 29.3.2025
Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 22.3 - 29.3.2025
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Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 22.3 - 29.3.2025 ---
Brazil, Vietnam discuss plane, beef deals and BRICS summit
Reuters News – 28 March 2025
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday Vietnam may buy Embraer planes and become a regional hub for Brazilian meat processing operations, as he met Vietnam's President Luong Cuong in Hanoi. Lula also recognised the country as a market economy, invited Vietnam to attend a BRICS summit in Brazil later this year and pledged a Mercosur trade agreement with Hanoi. Lula's second visit to Vietnam comes as Hanoi, under pressure from the Trump administration to reduce its large trade surplus, has promised to boost U.S. imports, including farm products such as soybeans of which Brazil is a top exporter to the country. At a media conference with Lula, Cuong said Vietnam was "seriously considering" allowing Brazilian beef into the country. Brazilian food giant JBS is considering building a meat-processing plant in northern Vietnam, its first in Asia, if Vietnam opens its market to Brazilian beef. Lula also said he was aware that flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines was "positively assessing Embraer's offer" for regional jets, noting Brazil wanted to export planes to Hanoi. The Brazilian plane maker is in talks for the possible sale of ten E190 narrow-body jets to Vietnam Airlines, according to a Brazilian official. The two countries signed a five-year action plan, which officials said focuses on defence, agriculture, energy and technology, and other pacts, including one on football cooperation.
Trump Organization eyes multi-billion-dollar projects in Vietnam amid tariff risks
Reuters News – 28 March 2025
The Trump Organization and its partner in Vietnam are working on multiple investments worth billions of dollars in golf courses, hotels and real estate projects in the country. The plans by the family business of U.S. President Donald Trump are proceeding amid risks of U.S. tariffs on Vietnam, which has one of the world's largest trade surpluses with Washington and last year exported goods worth 30% of its GDP to the United States. "The Trump Organization with its partner plans multibillion-dollar investments in Vietnam," the spokesman said, noting the first project will break ground in May, just months after the deal was sealed, and a second one could be announced this year. The groundbreaking for the first project, worth $1.5 billion and close to Vietnam's capital Hanoi, would take place just weeks after the Trump administration's highly anticipated decision scheduled on April 2 for "reciprocal tariffs" on unspecified countries with trade imbalances. The spokesman said the project, which includes three 18-hole golf courses and a residential complex, is the largest in East Asia for the Trump Organization. The first two courses are expected to be operational by mid-2027, he said. The group is also involved in two golf clubs in Indonesia, one of which is under construction.
Vietnam issues decision to allow SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service
Reuters News – 26 March 2025
Vietnam's government said on Wednesday it had issued a decision to allow SpaceX to launch its Starlink satellite internet service on a trial basis in the country. The decision states that there is no limit on foreign ownership of the service, the government said in a statement, adding that the trial period will last until the end of 2030. To rebalance the trade gap and avoid tariffs, Vietnam has pledged to increase imports from the U.S., cut duties and non-tariff barriers, and is also allowing Elon Musk's Starlink to offer its satellite internet services in the country while retaining full control of its Vietnamese subsidiary under a pilot scheme that circumvents strict limits on foreign ownership.
Vietnam says to cut tariffs on several U.S. products
Reuters News – 26 March 2025
Vietnam will cut its tariffs on several U.S. products, the head of the Finance Ministry's tax policy department said. Among the cuts, the tariff on American LNG will be cut to 2% from 5%, on automobiles to 32% from a range of 45% to 64%, and on ethanol to 5% from 10%, Nguyen Quoc Hung said in a statement posted on the ministry's website late on Tuesday. Hung said Vietnam will also remove tariff on American ethane. He said the decree on the tariff cut will be ready within this month and will take effect right after that.
VinFast signs MOU with JIGA to expand service network in the Philippines
Dow Jones Newswires – 25 March 2025
VinFast and MGA.414 Corporation (which operates the JIGA auto service chain) have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand the network of service centers for VinFast electric vehicles (EVs) in the Philippines, aiming to establish over 100 service workshops across the country by the end of this year. Under the MOU, VinFast and JIGA will actively collaborate to designate service centers as official VinFast service hubs or authorized facilities for the repair, warranty, and maintenance of VinFast electric vehicles in the Philippines. JIGA's service centers in the Philippines will meet VinFast's stringent standards for infrastructure, machinery, equipment, and workforce expertise, while prioritizing the provision of genuine services and spare parts for VinFast vehicle owners.