Latest news with #VietnamEconomy
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Hanoi bans The Economist's issue featuring Vietnam's leader on its cover, reports say
The latest print edition of the Economist, which features Vietnam's top leader on its cover, has been banned in the country, the latest instance of media censorship in the communist, one-party state. The magazine carried an image of the Communist party General Secretary To Lam with stars on his eyes, alongside the headline 'The man with a plan for Vietnam', with an article carrying the subheading: 'A Communist party hard man has to rescue Asia's great success story'. Vietnam has transformed over recent decades into a manufacturing powerhouse, and was one of Asia's fastest growing economies last year. However, its export-reliant economy, which is heavily dependent on sending goods to the US, faces the threat of a 46% tariff announced early this year by Donald Trump. Noting the need for Vietnam to transform its economic strategy, the Economist article stated: 'If Mr Lam fails, Vietnam will muddle on as a low-value-added production centre that missed its moment', adding that reforms could, on the other hand, 'propel 100m Vietnamese into the developed world, creating another Asian growth engine'. Reports by both Reuters and Bloomberg quoted unnamed distributors who said they could not obtain copies of the magazine or that it had been banned. An unnamed executive at distributor Ngay Moi told Reuters they had been ordered to 'tear off' the cover and article about Lam, adding: 'Later, we were ordered not to sell it at all.' An employee at a second distributor, Global Book Corporation, also told Reuters Vietnam's ministry in charge of public information had banned the edition. Vietnam's ministry of foreign affairs and the Economist did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, Vietnamese authorities ordered telecom providers to block the messaging app Telegram, accusing it of failing to cooperate with efforts to crack down on crime. An internal document reported by Reuters said that many Telegram groups 'with tens of thousands of participants were created by opposition and reactionary subjects spreading anti-government documents'. Vietnam has little tolerance for dissent and maintains a tight control on the media, with press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières ranking it as among the worst in the world for media freedoms - at 173 place out of an index of 180 countries. The group describes Vietnam as 'one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists'. Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Officer for RSF said the decision to ban distribution of the Economist reflected the continued repression of press freedom in the country. 'It is clear that the Vietnamese authorities consider a free press a challenge to its one-party rule, and will do anything in its power to silence independent voices,' Bielakowska said, citing the case of journalist Pham Doan Trang, who has been detained for nearly five years by the regime. 'While Vietnamese authorities seek rapprochement with democracies to boost its economy, the international community as a whole must seize this opportunity to put human rights and freedom of the press on the frontline of its negotiations,' she added.
Reuters
13-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Vietnam seeks to extend VAT cut until end-2026
HANOI, May 13 (Reuters) - Vietnam's government is seeking to extend a 2 percentage point cut in its value-added tax rate until the end of next year to support economic growth, state media reported on Tuesday. Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang on Tuesday submitted a plan to extend the tax cut, which was due to end on June 30, to the parliament for approval during its current session, Nhan Dan newspaper reported. "The VAT cut needs to be extended to promote economic growth, support families and businesses, boost manufacturing, tourism and domestic consumption," Thang was quoted as saying, adding it would cost 121.74 trillion dong ($4.7 billion) in foregone revenue. Vietnam cut its VAT rate to 8% from 10% in early 2022 to support the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since extended it a number of times. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this year that VAT carried a lot of blame for America's trade deficit. ($1 = 25,951 dong)
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Amid Donald Trump's tariff uncertainty, Vietnam scrambles to avoid an economic disaster
In a garment factory on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, there's a mixture of anxiety and quiet confidence among staff about US President Donald Trump's threat of a huge tariff. Here, workers measure, cut, sew and pack clothing for some of the world's biggest brands, with monthly salaries starting at about $US320 ($500). The company, named Dony, has ridden on the manufacturing wave that caused Vietnam's economy to surge in the past two decades. Dony took off even further when Mr Trump's tariffs on China during his first term encouraged some investors to move their manufacturing to South-East Asia. It was during the first Trump era that 23-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Anh got her job here, working her way up and almost doubling her salary along the way. "I'm using the money I earn here to help pay for my younger brother to study. He's only six and at primary school," she told the ABC. She intends to stay working at the company for many years to come, but Mr Trump's return to the White House has cast a cloud over the factory. He proposed a 46 per cent tariff on all Vietnamese-manufactured goods going into the US, unless the two countries can do a deal to reduce Vietnam's huge $US123 billion trade surplus. "A lot of our exports go to the US, so if the tariffs happen, we won't sell as much and we won't earn as much," she said. "A lot of us here are worried." Henry Pham Quang Anh started the Dony factory with just $US450 in his pocket. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) During the pandemic, Pham decided his business was too dependent on the US. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) Dony's boss, Henry Pham Quang Anh, isn't thrilled about the tariff threat, but he's not as worried as many of his staff. Having started the garment factory in 2009 with just $US450 in his pocket, he's seen tremendous growth as well as setbacks over the past 16 years, including a diagnosis of tuberculosis that forced him to take time off from developing his company. "By about 2020, we had grown to around 200 workers. But after the [COVID-19 pandemic], everything was down, down, down," he said. As Vietnam's total exports rebounded to new records in the post-COVID years, Mr Pham started to worry that his reliance on the US market — 40 per cent of his sales — was too much. He started pursuing alternative markets abroad for some balance, but others in Vietnam are sweating on the tariff threat much more. "I have some friends who own companies, and some of them still export to the US about 40 to 50 per cent of their goods," he said. "Some of them even export 100 per cent to the US, so of course they are worried." 'The Trump plan can't be successful' Across South-East Asia, it's a familiar story. Countries with relatively low wages courted foreign investment over the past two decades to develop their economies, following a playbook first perfected in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and later China. Big brands — many American — built factories, supply chains and offered jobs. Vietnam will be under a 46 per cent tariff unless it can do a deal with the US to reduce its huge $US123 billion trade surplus. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) Critics of Trump's tariff plan say US workers still cost more than three times as much as Vietnamese. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) The Vietnam government says it would be willing to cut all tariffs on incoming American goods down to zero, if the US agrees to do the same in return. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) In return, workers in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and elsewhere made everything from apparel to footwear, from electronics to machinery, and even cars. They sold them to Americans, Australians and consumers in other developed markets at prices far lower than what they would cost if produced domestically. What seemed like a "win-win" to many in Vietnam is viewed very differently by the White House. Mr Trump says he wants to return manufacturing jobs to the US in a bid to make imports to America more expensive, and force the consumer to buy local. It's a goal few in Vietnam believe is achievable. "In my opinion, the Trump plan can't be successful to bring manufacturing back to the US," said Ho Chi Minh-based economist Huynh Thanh Dien. "Tariffs are just one factor in the bigger picture. There's also suitable infrastructure and the cost and supply of labour," he said. Ho Chi Minh-based economist Huynh Thanh Dien says he doesn't believe Trump's tariff plan would work. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) He argues that even at the minimum federal wage, US workers still cost more than three times as much as Vietnamese workers. Dr Huynh believes the tariff threats and the 90-day negotiating window show Mr Trump doesn't intend to follow through on such high duties, but is trying to force other countries to lower their trade barriers to US goods. "The most likely outcome is that Vietnam would lower tariffs on American goods and products where the US has an advantage, like technology, machinery and aircraft," he said. "And the US might put lower tariffs on products where Vietnam has an advantage, like garments." Vietnam quietly seeks a deal The announcement that the United States and China drastically rolled back tariffs on their goods for 90 days would have come as good news to Vietnamese officials. Vietnam's leader, Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, has said his government would be willing to cut all tariffs on incoming American goods down to zero, if the US agrees to do the same in return. Vietnam is trying to negotiate a trade deal with the US. ( ABC News: Mitch Woolnough ) It's an offer that would likely continue Vietnam's large trade surplus, given that its exports to the US are worth about 10 times the total value of American imports. Like other countries in South-East Asia, Mr To has dispatched a negotiating team to Washington to try to hash out a deal. The country's state media reports that Vietnam is one of six countries, including the UK, India, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia, that have been given higher priority for negotiations. For now, no deals have been publicly announced, leaving workers across Vietnam and the region to get on with business while they wait for news. "I think for higher technology industries, like building cars, [the US government] will try to keep jobs in the US," said Mr Pham, looking out across dozens of employees busily working on sewing machines under cooling fans. "But with garments, I don't think the people in the US will try to open a factory like this."
