The surprise victory of Donald Trump in the race for US President has unsettled the world’s markets.
Unlike the widely-expected victor Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump is a blank slate in terms of how he might
govern, although some of the positions he espoused on the campaign trail promise to upend the
world order of the past decade. While it remains to be seen how his campaign positions materialize
into policy, the following is VinaCapital’s preliminary take on how a Trump administration could
affect Vietnam in several key areas over the next 12 months.

On October 12, 2016, more than 100 attendees from around the world convened at the Park Hyatt
Saigon for VinaCapital’s eleventh annual investor conference. The event assembled a range of
speakers, from a noted economist to the director of Vietnam’s only privately owned airline, which
will shortly undergo an initial public offering. For those investors who were not able to attend the
conference, a brief recap follows.

For much of the past two years, Vietnam’s real estate market has been among the most visible signs of
the economy’s expansion. Residential property sales have been robust, construction of condominiums
and office towers are underway in the major cities, and industrial parks are rising on their outskirts. It
does indeed appear that real estate has recovered from the bubble that burst in 2008. The sector is
fundamentally stronger thanks to the numerous reforms enacted over the past few years, and 2015 saw
a remarkable level of activity particularly in the residential sector.