Vietnamese News Posted by Henig at KTFA 9-22-2026
KTFA:
Henig: IMO: Very interesting.
Digital transformation widens market reach for Vietnamese goods
September 18, 2026 - 14:07
E-commerce and livestreaming are reshaping how Vietnamese craft villages, co-operatives and businesses connect with consumers, cutting distances between producer and buyer without eroding traditional values.
HÀ NỘI — Digital platforms are opening up new market access channels for businesses and co-operatives across Việt Nam, enabling Vietnamese goods to reach consumers more directly, enhance their competitiveness and adapt to modern consumption trends.
A smartphone, an internet connection and a livestream are becoming new trade promotion tools for the Minh Tâm Ceramics Co-operative in Phù Lãng Commune, Bắc Ninh Province. Instead of waiting for customers to visit the craft village or relying on traditional distribution channels, the co-operative now showcases its handmade ceramic products directly on social media, reaching thousands of viewers and receiving orders in real time.
Đặng Thị Tâm, Director of the Minh Tâm Ceramics Co-operative, said TikTok livestreams not only attracted large audiences but also provided opportunities to introduce the traditional Phù Lãng pottery village, the cultural values embodied in each product and the stories of the artisans behind them.
The effectiveness of this online sales channel extends beyond orders placed during broadcasts. Many customers who discover products through livestreams remain connected via Zalo, follow new product launches and return to make further purchases.
Tâm said customers who joined a livestream and placed an order could become long-term buyers rather than one-time purchasers. After receiving their goods, many continued to enquire about new products, browse other designs and place follow-up orders.
The story of Minh Tâm Ceramics shows that digital transformation does not diminish the traditional values of craft village products. On the contrary, when brought into the digital space, the stories behind the products, the land and the artisans have more opportunities to reach a wider audience.
From products shaped by craftspeople’s hands to orders placed through social media, the distance between producers and consumers is narrowing. Products that once had relatively limited markets are finding new customers in many localities, rather than relying solely on visitors to the craft village.
In practice, many businesses are proactively using e-commerce as both a trade promotion and sales channel. Websites, applications, sales management software, electronic payment systems, QR codes for product traceability and stores on e-commerce platforms are becoming increasingly widespread.
Trần Thị Vượng, General Director of Thạch An Food Processing Joint Stock Company, said e-commerce produced significant results in promoting a company’s image and product brands. Businesses could sell wherever their customers were, she said, adding that with a smartphone in everyone’s hands, the device itself had become a marketplace.
Evidence suggests that livestreaming is gradually evolving from a simple promotional format into a trade promotion tool capable of directly connecting products, sellers and buyers.
At the “Vitality of Vietnamese Goods” programme at 62 Tràng Tiền Street in Hà Nội, organised by the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade since the beginning of 2026, a model combining physical display areas with livestreaming has made a clear impact on the promotion, networking and consumption of Vietnamese goods.
The programme aims to help businesses reach consumers through modern methods while creating a space where customers can experience products first-hand. Combining direct product experiences with sales on digital platforms has generated two-way interaction, enabling businesses to introduce their products, receive feedback and adjust their market approaches.
The programme’s effectiveness is reflected in visitor numbers, as well as the views, comments and shares generated during livestreams. Notably, orders have come not only from consumers in Hà Nội but also from many other provinces and cities.
This shows that products placed in the digital environment can transcend geographical boundaries. Consumers no longer need to visit a shop or craft village in person. They can still learn about a product’s origins, manufacturing process and quality, communicate with the seller and make a purchase.
Trần Hữu Linh, Director General of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development, said the “Vitality of Vietnamese Goods” programme was designed to create additional channels connecting products with consumers through an omnichannel model combining physical shopping and product experience spaces with digital platforms.
Incorporating livestreaming into the programme also reflects the growing shift in consumption towards the digital environment. Consumers can explore and experience products in person at the event while also accessing and purchasing them online. As a result, connections between local products and the market are being considerably expanded.
From a single smartphone livestream to an omnichannel business ecosystem, digital transformation is expanding the development space available to Vietnamese goods. When product quality is combined with technology, brand storytelling and consumer trust, products from craft villages, co-operatives and Vietnamese enterprises have more opportunities to reach wider markets, both domestically and internationally. – VNS
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Henig: IMO: Interesting timing.
Party General Secretary and President meets with US Trade Representative in New York
September 22, 2026 - 05:49
The US Trade Representative said that once signed and implemented, the agreement on reciprocal, fair and balanced trade would continue to open up new opportunities and prospects for cooperation between the two countries.
NEW YORK — Việt Nam attaches importance to its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States and wishes to work with the administration of President Donald J. Trump to continue advancing bilateral relations in a stable, substantive, effective and sustainable manner, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm has affirmed.
The leader made the affirmation at a meeting with US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer in New York on the morning of September 21 (local time), as part of his trip to the US to attend the High-Level General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly and conduct bilateral activities.
General Secretary and President Lâm stressed that economic, trade and investment cooperation is one of the most important pillars of bilateral relations, directly benefiting businesses and people and contributing to the development of both countries.
In recent years, Việt Nam has made efforts to substantively promote cooperation and purchase goods from the US in order to boost bilateral trade in a more balanced direction, while creating more orders, jobs and direct benefits for businesses and workers in both countries, he continued.
For his part, Greer highly appreciated the attention paid by General Secretary and President Lâm and Việt Nam's efforts to balance trade between the two countries. He also said that the two negotiating teams have made great efforts, and have so far made significant progress and come very close to reaching a final outcome.
The Trade Representative said that once signed and implemented, the agreement on reciprocal, fair and balanced trade would continue to open up new opportunities and prospects for cooperation between the two countries.
General Secretary and State President Lâm welcomed the very positive results achieved by the two sides toward the early signing of the agreement, creating a stable, long-term framework for economic, trade and investment relations.
He also called on the US to take a comprehensive approach to outstanding trade issues, including those related to investigations under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. On that basis, the leader expressed his wish that the two countries step up efforts to promote the substantive development of bilateral economic, trade and investment ties, thus bringing benefits to their people. — VNA/VNS
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Henig: IMO: They be workin' it, yo.
Beyond the upgrade, Việt Nam sets sights on long-term investment
September 22, 2026 - 09:53
Việt Nam News reporter Ly Ly Cao spoke with Kojima Kazunobu, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) consultant and expert from the Daiwa Institute of Research, about the impact of the upgrade, reform priorities and the key risks facing Việt Nam as it enters emerging-market status.
HÀ NỘI — The stock market enters a new chapter on September 21 as its upgrade from frontier to secondary emerging market status under FTSE Russell takes effect.
Beyond expectations of increased foreign capital, the upgrade raises important questions about how it could reshape the quality and structure of the market and what further reforms are needed to attract and retain long-term international investment.
Việt Nam News reporter Ly Ly Cao spoke with Kojima Kazunobu, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) consultant and expert from the Daiwa Institute of Research, about the impact of the upgrade, reform priorities and the key risks facing Việt Nam as it enters emerging-market status.
What do you consider to be the most significant impact of a market upgrade and beyond attracting capital inflows, how will it affect the quality and structure of Việt Nam's stock market?
The most significant impact of the market upgrade is not simply the potential increase in foreign capital inflows.
In my view, its greater significance is that Việt Nam will become investable for a much broader universe of global emerging-market investors and will therefore be evaluated more closely as an investment destination.
As more international investors begin to follow Vietnamese listed companies, engagement between companies and investors is likely to increase. This can contribute to the continued development and international integration of the market.
At the market level, the upgrade is also likely to place greater emphasis on liquidity and investability. International investors assess not only market capitalisation but also whether they can build, manage, and exit positions efficiently.
Factors such as free-float availability, trading liquidity, and access to investment opportunities therefore become increasingly important as the market attracts a broader range of global investors.
For this reason, the upgrade can be viewed as the beginning of a new phase in which Việt Nam's stock market will be observed and evaluated by a much broader community of global emerging-market investors.
As investor participation expands, greater attention is likely to be paid to factors such as liquidity, investability, and the availability of attractive investment opportunities.
This process can support the continued evolution of the market and further strengthen Việt Nam's position as an increasingly important destination for international investment over the long term.
Following the market upgrade expected on September 21, which reforms should Việt Nam prioritise to ensure that international capital flows into the market not merely because of index inclusion, but remains invested over the long term?
While continued improvements in trading infrastructure, market transparency, corporate governance and investor protection remain important, Việt Nam's long-term objective should be to establish itself as a market that offers attractive investment opportunities and a growing universe of high-quality listed companies.
From that perspective, one of the most important priorities is to further strengthen the quality of disclosure and investor relations activities among listed companies.
International investors need sufficient information to understand a company's business model, growth strategy, competitive advantages, and long-term value creation potential. Even high-quality companies may not receive appropriate investor attention if these strengths are not communicated effectively.
In the long run, sustainable foreign investment will depend not only on market infrastructure or regulatory frameworks but also on the availability of attractive and investable companies.
Increasing the number of listed companies that can communicate their investment story clearly and engage effectively with investors will help strengthen market confidence and support long-term international investor participation in Việt Nam's stock market.
While retail investors continue to play a significant role in Việt Nam's stock market, what measures should Việt Nam take to foster the growth of long-term institutional investors?
To develop a stronger base of long-term institutional investors, it is important to recognise that institutional capital ultimately originates from household savings.
In many developed markets, pension funds, insurance companies, and investment funds have grown by channelling the long-term savings of households into professionally managed investment vehicles.
Therefore, the development of institutional investors should be viewed not only as a financial-sector objective but also as part of a broader effort to support long-term household asset formation.
In this regard, Việt Nam could consider several complementary measures. First, it should continue encouraging the growth of long-term investment through pension and insurance systems, which can provide a stable source of institutional capital for the capital market.
Second, tax incentives could be used to encourage long-term investment by individual investors through investment funds. International experience suggests that such incentives are most effective when they are designed for broad-based household asset formation, with appropriate investment limits to ensure that the benefits are focused on ordinary investors rather than high-net-worth individuals.
Third, financial and investment education should be strengthened from an early age to help build a culture of long-term saving and investing.
Over time, these measures can help channel household savings into professionally managed long-term investment and support the development of a more stable and diversified investor base.
In your view, what is the greatest risk facing Vietnam after achieving an upgrade to emerging market status?
I do not see any major structural risk that would undermine Việt Nam's long-term growth prospects after an upgrade to emerging market status. The country continues to benefit from strong economic fundamentals, a dynamic private sector, and a young, well-educated, and hard-working workforce. These factors provide a solid foundation for continued economic and capital market development.
In my view, the more important challenge is whether Việt Nam can continue enhancing its attractiveness as an investment destination as it becomes more closely followed by global emerging-market investors.
The upgrade is likely to increase investor attention, but it will also raise expectations regarding market quality, openness, and alignment with international standards. Whether Việt Nam can continue meeting these evolving expectations may therefore become a risk factor in the years ahead.
As Việt Nam moves into this new phase, international investors are likely to place increasing importance on factors that affect investability and long-term shareholder value.
Continued progress in these areas would further strengthen Việt Nam's position within the global investment community and help attract a broader base of long-term investors.
For this reason, I see the upgrade not as the end of a reform process, but as an opportunity to further enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of Việt Nam's capital market. — BIZHUB/VNS