Indonesia: No-no to Gaga
Bad news out of Jakarta today for executives in Indonesia’s booming entertainment industry, supporters of religious tolerance, and little monsters, as fans of pop star Lady Gaga are known.
Her upcoming concert in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation has been denied a permit by police following pressure from hardline Islamist groups who claimed that her skimpy wardrobe and outlandish stage show would corrupt the nation’s youth. Continue reading »
Vietnam: a quick surprise cut
With inflation moderating and economic growth stalling, Vietnam’s central bank has cut interest rates by a full percentage point for the second time in just over a month.
Late on Tuesday the State Bank of Vietnam said on its website that from Wednesday it would cut the refinance rate to 13 per cent from 14 per cent and the discount rate from 12 per cent to 11 per cent. Continue reading »
Vietnamese GDP: getting into balance?
A woman carrying used boxes in front of a modern car showroom, Hanoi, Vietnam
A sharp slowdown in GDP growth in the first quarter has left Vietnam watchers feeling rather ambivalent.
On the one hand, it’s evidence that the government’s monetary tightening measures have been successfully implemented, helping to bring annual inflation down to 14 per cent in March from an August peak of 23 per cent.
But the unexpectedly steep slowdown, with a strict cap on credit growth hitting construction and manufacturing, has left some investors fretting about the growth outlook. Continue reading »
A job for StanChart: upgrade Vietnam
Standard Chartered must like a challenge because it has just taken on a tough one: helping troubled Vietnam improve its sovereign credit ratings.
The Vietnamese government, which is battling deep-seated problems in banking state-owned enterprises, on Thursday appointed the emerging market-focused bank as its sovereign credit ratings adviser, Standard Chartered said. Continue reading »
Myanmar, Vietnam: the pros and cons
The scramble for Myanmar among Western investors has yet to extend far beyond scouting trips and vague statements of intent.
Not so with companies from Vietnam, which had few qualms about doing business with Myanmar’s military dictatorship before political and economic reforms of the last year. Many are moving ahead with investment plans. Continue reading »
Vietnam: anyone for state-owned debt?
Vietinbank, one of Vietnam’s biggest state-owned banks, will next week embark on a global roadshow to promote a dollar bond issue – a test of international investor appetite at a time of ongoing economic turbulence.
Can Vietinbank succeed where other state-owned companies have failed in trying to issue international bonds? Continue reading »
Vietnam: agility can beat scale
Even as sharply rising wages push some manufacturers to expand outside of China, it is unlikely to lose its reputation as the world’s workshop any time soon. The country’s vast scale and superior infrastructure and supporting industries see to that.
Yet big is not always best. In addition to offering lower wages, countries like Vietnam can capitalise on their smaller size to win new manufacturing business at a time of global economic uncertainty. Continue reading »
Vietnam’s local gambling dilemma
Is Vietnam about to legalise sports gambling? Despite positive noises from the Communist government, don’t bet on it happening any time soon.
The plan, which has been discussed on and off over the last few years, has resurfaced again after Vietnam’s finance minister, Vuong Dinh Hue, visited Singapore to learn about the city-state’s successful sports betting industry. Continue reading »
Vietnam: a cut too soon?
Vietnam’s Communist government might be confident that it can cut interest rates without destabilising the economy but analysts are not so sure.
While struggling banks and businesses will welcome the central bank’s announcement of a pending one percentage point cut in lending and bank deposit rates, economists fear that the government will relax monetary policy too soon, renewing inflationary pressures and threatening the recent stability in Vietnam’s fragile currency, the dong. Continue reading »
Vietnam banks: credit for the healthy
Give credit where it’s due. That’s the latest policy from Vietnam’s central bank to try to resolve the deep-seated problems in the banking sector.
Years of rapid credit growth have led to persistently high inflation and rising bad debts in the corporate sector. Last year, the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, introduced a 20 per cent cap on credit growth for every bank, in an attempt to stabilise the financial system. This year the SBV has opted for differential credit growth limits, depending on the respective strength of the financial institution. Continue reading »
Vietnam: park before you build
The property market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s commercial capital, is looking so glum that a growing number of major property developments have been delayed or cancelled, as the FT reports.
But some canny Vietnamese developers are still generating revenue from their undeveloped sites by renting them out as parking lots to the tens of thousands of office workers who commute into central Ho Chi Minh City by scooter each day. Continue reading »
Vietnam equities: attractive but tricky
Like other frontier stock markets that took a beating in recent years such as Egypt and Hungary, Vietnam has rallied this year, up more than 25 per cent since early January.
While sceptics reckon this rally represents the triumph of hope over experience – what traders prefer to call a “dead-cat bounce” – Citi thinks differently, arguing in a 20-page note sent to clients this week that Vietnam “should form a core part of a frontier market portfolio.” Easier said than done? Continue reading »
Vietnamese farms: boom at the bottom
Vietnam is the world’s biggest exporter of cashew nuts and black pepper, the second biggest exporter of rice and coffee and a major global supplier of farmed fish.
But few people in Europe or America realise that when they open a pack of nuts, gulp down a cup of instant coffee or dig into a portion of fish and chips, they may well be eating Vietnamese products. Continue reading »
Vietnam’s inconvenient land dispute
Vietnam’s Communist rulers, who pay official homage to the legacy of Lenin while merrily consuming the fruits of a much-liberalised economy, have delivered peace and bread to their people.
But the third element of Lenin’s famous promise – land – remains a deeply contentious issue in a country where social inequality is increasing alongside prosperity. Continue reading »
Vietnam: Japan’s SMEs come too
Large Japanese companies like tyre-maker Bridgestone, electronics manufacturer Panasonic and banking group Mizuho may be leading the way when it comes to investing in Vietnam, as the FT reported.
But a wide range of small and medium-sized Japanese companies are following in their wake, to provide support services and components to their larger compatriots. Continue reading »
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