Thuy Minh Giang

How a sweeping package of legal and administrative changes is reshaping the investment landscape, and who stands to benefit Vietnam has long been positioned as one of Southeast Asia's most compelling growth stories: a young workforce, a strategic role in ASEAN supply chains, and expanding market access through agreements like the EVFTA. But in July 2025, the government moved beyond potential and began delivering structural change, a reform package built on four pillars: greater transparency,...

It's 6 AM at a mid-sized manufacturing plant somewhere in Binh Duong. The owner walks the factory floor before his team arrives, past a decade-old stamping machine that still works, but not fast enough, not precisely enough, not competitively enough anymore. He's seen the quote for the new equipment. He's also seen the latest number from his bank: lending rates that make the investment feel less like growth and more like risk. He is not alone. Across Vietnam's manufacturing sector, business...

When an international company decides to build a factory in Vietnam, one of the first questions is usually simple: "Where should we put it?" At first, the answer often seems to come down to land price, industrial park availability, or proximity to a major city. But after working on investment projects in Vietnam, we have seen that the cheapest site is rarely the cheapest option in the long run. A factory location affects almost everything that comes after it: how easily you recruit people,...