Over the past week the emergence of community infection in Vietnam has been dominating domestic, and now international headlines. Vietnam’s effective measures to manage COVID-19 at the start of the outbreak in January enabled the country to record a remarkable 100-day stretch of no community transmission and zero deaths. The current resurgence will certainly be keenly followed, particularly as to how the local authorities and community responds to this outbreak.

In the final installment of our series on the important role FDI will play in Vietnam’s economic development post-pandemic, Chief Economist Michael Kokalari describes how MNCs who invest in the country will help improve the operations of Vietnamese companies as well as the expected “spillover” benefits they will bring. Don Lam also discusses these and other related issues in the accompanying video.

In the second part of our series on FDI, Chief Economist Michael Kokalari explains what foreign companies look at when considering where to build factories and suggests a number of actions Vietnam can take to attract greater investment.

More foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to flow into Vietnam in the aftermath of COVID-19. In the video to the right, Don Lam, VinaCapital’s CEO, speaks about why this wave will have a greater impact on Vietnam’s growth than previous investments in the first video about this important topic. Click the title for a more detailed explanation.

With the world’s central banks now printing an enormous pool of new money, Vietnam stands to attract significant foreign indirect investment (FII) inflows. We suggest several short and long-term solutions to help Vietnam to maximize this opportunity. Andy Ho, VinaCapital’s CIO, speaks more about this topic in the video at right.

The phrase “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold” alludes to the notion that other nations tend to follow the US, be it for good or bad. Notwithstanding the pun related to the pandemic, equity market direction around the world has been influenced by sentiment on US equities. Ismael Pili, VinaCapital’s Head of Research, explains that those offshore equity investors considering investing in Vietnamese stocks as part of an “off-index bet” might want to consider three thematic buckets: early stage recovery plays, infrastructure, and ‘defensibles’.  Read more for specific sector plays.

Tourism an important part of Vietnam’s economy, but it is critical that the sector re-open in a way that protects the health of Vietnamese citizens and foreign visitors. Could “Safe Haven Tourism” be the key? Read more about our thoughts about that idea as well as ways to promote domestic tourism in our latest note and in a video presented by Don Lam (at right).

With public health measures being relaxed in Vietnam, the Government is now looking to re-start the economy. We offer our thoughts in this note and in the related video presented by Don Lam, VinaCapital Co-Founder and CEO.

In Part 2 of his presentation to the Seoul International Finance Forum, Don Lam provided an overview of some of the sectors that should be attractive to investors as well as some of the factors they should consider when evaluating investment opportunities and tips for successful investment in Vietnam. View Part 2 of the video to the right.

Don Lam, VinaCapital Co-Founder and CEO, recently spoke to a group of Korean investors via video regarding Vietnam’s efforts to manage the COVID-19 outbreak, how the pandemic will affect the economy, and investment opportunities now and once the pandemic subsides. This is part 1 of an abridged version of the presentation he delivered to the Seoul International Finance Forum on 22 April 2020. Click the video on the right side of the Coronavirus update page to view Don’s presentation.