Vietnam Economic News: 26.4 – 3.5.2025
Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 26.4 - 3.5.2025
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Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 26.4 - 3.5.2025 ---
Celebrations in Ho Chi Minh City to mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War
Reuters News – 30 April 2025
Vietnam is celebrating the end of the Vietnam War on Wednesday with a grand military parade and an air show 50 years after the fall of Saigon, the event that marked the definitive conclusion of the decades-long conflict. The historic anniversary commemorates the first act of the country's reunification on April 30, 1975, when Communist-run North Vietnam seized Saigon, the capital of the U.S.-backed South. The victory, about two years after Washington withdrew its last combat troops from the country, marked the end of a 20-year conflict that killed some 3 million Vietnamese and nearly 60,000 Americans, many of them young soldiers conscripted into the military. The fall of Saigon was seared into many memories by the images of U.S. helicopters evacuating some 7,000 people, many of them Vietnamese, as North Vietnamese tanks closed in. The final flight took off from the roof of the U.S. embassy at 7:53 a.m. on April 30, carrying the last U.S. Marines out of Saigon. Saigon was later renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honour of the North's founding leader. "Communist troops rolled into the South Vietnamese capital virtually unopposed, to the great relief of the population which had feared a bloody last-minute battle," said a cable from one of the Reuters reporters in the city on the day it fell. The cable described the victorious army as made up of "formidably armed" troops in jungle green fatigues but also of barefoot teenagers. The formal reunification of Vietnam was completed a year later, 22 years after the country had been split in two following the end of French colonial rule. "The victory of April 30 is the victory of human conscience and righteousness," a spokeswoman for Vietnam's foreign ministry told reporters last week. She noted that Vietnam and the United States normalised diplomatic relations in 1995 and deepened ties in 2023 during a visit to Hanoi by former U.S. President Joe Biden. That bond is now being tested by the threat of crippling 46% tariffs on Vietnamese goods that Biden's successor, Donald Trump, announced in April. The tariffs have been largely paused until July and talks are underway. But if confirmed, they could undermine Vietnam's export-led growth that has attracted large foreign investments.
Vietnam PM encourages firms to buy more from the US to balance trade
Reuters News – 30 April 2025
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has encouraged local firms to sign more deals with the United States to purchase liquified natural gas, planes, drugs and farm produce to support more stable and balanced trade, state media reported on Tuesday. He also asked related agencies including the trade ministry to submit clear negotiation plans with the United States by Wednesday, state broadcaster Vietnam Television reported.
Apple says most of its devices shipped into U.S. will be sourced from India, Vietnam
Dow Jones Institutional News – 1 May 2025
Apple said a majority of its devices shipped into the U.S. in the June quarter will originate in India and Vietnam, a move to allay investor concerns about how tariffs would crimp profit at the world's largest company. Apple expects that a majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the June quarter will come from India and a majority of its other devices sold in the U.S., including iPads, Macs, the Apple Watch and AirPods, will come from Vietnam, Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said in an interview. The company was among the hardest-hit of the tech giants last month because of its exposure to China, a primary target of the Trump administration's global tariff pressure. Most of Apple's devices are assembled in the country, and investors are closely watching the company's efforts to shift production to India and other countries.
VinFast signed USD 190 million syndicated loan for its automobile plant in Indonesia
Reuters News – 2 May 2025
VinFast, along with the state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and PT Bank Maybank Indonesia Tbk (Maybank), signed a long-term syndicated loan agreement valued at IDR 1.85 trillion (equivalent to approximately USD110 million), along with an additional USD80 million accordion facility, to finance the construction of VinFast's electric vehicle assembly plant in Subang, West Java, Indonesia. This agreement will provide critical long-term funding to support VinFast's global expansion strategy and expand its production capabilities. Furthermore, it underscores VinFast's strong reputation and growth potential to major partners in Indonesia.
Vietnam opposes China and Philippines' actions on disputed South China Sea reef
Reuters News – 3 May 2025
Vietnam has sent diplomatic notes to China and the Philippines to protest against their activities in contested South China Sea waters, and urging them to respect its territorial claims, it said on Saturday. The statement follows activities by China and the Philippines in Sandy Cay, which Vietnam considers part of its territory, Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV last week said its coast guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of maritime control operations to exercise its sovereignty, while the Philippines sent a team to the sandbars and found no one there. "Vietnam requests that relevant parties respect Vietnam's sovereignty, comply with international law, and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea," Hang said in the statement, using Vietnam's name for the South China Sea. "Vietnam has communicated and sent diplomatic notes protesting relevant countries regarding activities that violate Vietnam's sovereignty over Sandy Cay and related entities of the Truong Sa," she said. Truong Sa is the Vietnamese name for the Spratly Islands. Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a presence. China claims more than 90% of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea via a U-shaped "ninedash line" on its maps that stretches into Southeast Asia and cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.