Vietnam Economic News: 17.5 – 25.5.2025
Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 17.5 - 25.5.2025
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Summary of Vietnam Economic News: 17.5 - 25.5.2025 ---
Vinhomes strategically partners with VTK to build a model Korean community in Ocean City
Dow Jones Newswires – 21 May 2025
Vinhomes Joint Stock Company and VTK Hung Yen Industrial Park Investment and Development Co., Ltd. (VTK) have signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement. This marks a significant step in the development of a Korean community within Ocean City. The partnership aims to enhance the quality of life and working environment for Korean experts, executives, and their families employed at VTK. The signing ceremony took place within the framework of the "Meet Korea 2025" event held in Hung Yen. The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Secretary of the Hung Yen Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Huu Nghia, and Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Choi Youngsam. Also present were leaders from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee, various departments and agencies, representatives from Korean trade promotion organizations and business associations, and hundreds of delegates from Vietnamese and Korean enterprises currently investing and operating in Vietnam. Under the agreement, Vinhomes will develop and offer rental housing and office solutions for VTK and its experts and leaders. Both parties will also collaborate closely to create an eco-urban model seamlessly connected to the industrial park. This initiative aims to build a high-quality living and working environment, fostering a sustainably developing community within the model urban area of Ocean City. Furthermore, Vinhomes will coordinate with its subsidiaries and companies within the Vingroup ecosystem to provide comprehensive services for the Korean and Vietnamese expert communities working at the Hung Yen Clean Industrial Park.
Vietnam acts to block messaging app Telegram
Reuters News – 23 May 2025
Vietnam's technology ministry has instructed telecommunication service providers to block the messaging app Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users, according to a government document. The document, dated May 21 and signed by the deputy head of the telecom department at the technology ministry, ordered telecommunication companies to take measures to block Telegram and report on them to the ministry by June 2. The document said the ministry was acting on behalf of the country's cybersecurity department after police reported that 68% of the 9,600 Telegram channels and groups in the country violated the law, citing fraud, drug trafficking and "cases suspected of being related to terrorism" among the illegal activities carried out through the app.
Vietnam expresses willingness to combat trade fraud in US tariff talks
Reuters News – 23 May 2025
Vietnam said on Friday its trade minister met with the U.S. Commerce Secretary and senators during a visit to the United States, pledging during talks on tariffs to narrow their trade gap and combat trade fraud and illegal transhipment. Vietnam and the United States this week concluded a second round of trade negotiations, as the Southeast Asian industrial hub seeks a deal to avoid a 46% tariff rate on Vietnamese goods, imposed largely due to its big trade surplus with Washington. During the meeting with the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also urged the United States to recognise Vietnam as a market economy soon and to remove it from its strategic export control lists, the ministry said. Despite Vietnam consistently being one of Asia's fastest-growing economies in the past two decades and its multiple free-trade agreements, the United States still recognises it as a non-market economy, despite Hanoi arguing it has made sufficient reforms to justify an upgrade. The United States is Vietnam's largest export market and its trade surplus with Washington exceeded $123 billion last year, a trade gap Hanoi says it is committed to narrowing. "This would bring practical benefits to both countries and help improve bilateral trade in a fairer, more harmonious and more sustainable manner," the ministry said in a statement. Dien also separately met U.S. senators, including Ted Cruz and Steve Daines, and pledged during the meetings to promote more balanced bilateral trade.
Vietnam retroactively cuts subsidies for some solar, wind farms
Reuters News – 21 May 2025
Vietnam's state power utility has cut previously agreed subsidised prices it pays for electricity from some solar and wind farms which now risk defaulting on their debts with banks, according to an investors' petition seen by Reuters. The document, dated May 16 and sent to Vietnam's top authorities, follows a first letter in which most of the same signatories warned of billions of dollars of investment at risk because of retroactive changes to subsidies implemented by Vietnamese authorities even as they target a massive expansion of renewables capacity. Starting with January invoices, a subsidiary of Vietnam's power utility EVN “unilaterally withheld a portion of its payments by applying a provisional tariff of its own proposal," the document said. "This has caused us to breach commitments to banks and both local and international lenders, face the risk of default under pressure of monthly debt repayments, and suffer cash shortages," it added. Among the 16 foreign signatories are private equity fund Dragon Capital, the Vietnamese subsidiary of Philippines' ACEN energy group, and investors from Thailand, Portugal, the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore and China. Dozens of other Vietnamese projects also signed the letter. In recent years, the country has experienced a boom in renewable energy investments driven by generous feed-in tariffs (FiTs), under which the state committed to buying electricity for 20 years at above-market prices, effectively subsidising producers. However, amid allegations of abuses in accessing the FiTs and increasing losses for EVN from the subsidy programme, authorities have proceeded to freeze or cut some subsidies.