Vietnamese authorities blame a more infectious strain of COVID-19 first detected in India for recent outbreaks that threaten the country's key manufacturing centers in the north. (Source photo by AP) 
Coronavirus

Vietnam faces 'risk to fall behind' without vaccination: EuroCham

Hanoi sets up vaccine fund to secure doses worth $1.1 billion

28 May 2021
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh convened an urgent online meeting with the authorities in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh on Wednesday to try to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the two provinces which are home to many manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and Canon. (Source photos by EPA/Jiji and Reuters)
Coronavirus

Vietnam PM warns COVID-hit supply chain still at 'very high risk'

Vaccination accelerated for workers in northern production hub

27 May 2021
Containers are loaded onto a ship at Tien Sa port in Da Nang city, Vietnam.
Trade

US says Vietnam tires are subsidized by undervalued currency

Commerce Department also accuses South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand of dumping

25 May 2021
Southeast Asian nations get relatively large proportions of their tax revenues from corporations.
Economy

Southeast Asian nations are stepping up taxation efforts

Moves to increase revenue from companies aim to fix pandemic-ravaged state finances

23 May 2021
Since May 3, around 17,000 workers in Ho Chi Minh City have had samples taken for coronavirus testing. (File photo by Reuters)
Coronavirus

Vietnam scrambles to control COVID at industrial parks

Shutdown of 4 sites has Japan, Taiwan and other manufacturers worried

19 May 2021
Shoppers in Singapore stock up on groceries on May 14, after new curbs on dining out and social gatherings were announced.
Coronavirus

Singapore, Vietnam and Taiwan fight to remain COVID havens

Upticks in cases and variant fears doom events and squeeze businesses

18 May 2021
A construction site in Hanoi: Steel prices have soared 50% since the start of the year.
Materials

Vietnam asks steelmakers to cut exports as domestic prices surge

Hanoi steps to help builders struggling with high costs

18 May 2021
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has told Ho Chi Minh City officials that they have to take the lead in containing the virus and in keeping the bustling city's economy revved up. (Source photos by AP and EPA/Jiji)
Coronavirus

Ho Chi Minh City demands more autonomy to accelerate vaccinations

Vietnam's economic engine asks for Hanoi's nod to tap private funds

14 May 2021
The Military Medical Academy deployed phase 2 of the test injection of Nanocovax vaccine to prevent COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of  the Military Medical Academy)
COVID vaccines

Vietnamese COVID vaccine goes to final trial, as Hanoi lags on shots

Shunning Chinese options adds pressure to domestic push for inoculation

13 May 2021
Colonial Pipeline's storage tank in Woodbridge, New Jersey: we hear on a regular basis of increasingly powerful attacks.
Opinion

Global rules against cyberattacks must be updated

Time to recognize that civilian and military targets are now perilously entwined

11 May 2021
Pham Minh Chinh, pictured in Hanoi on Mar. 24: Vietnam's new Prime Minister will be under huge pressure to deliver strong growth rates.
Opinion

The economic agenda taking shape under Vietnam's new leader

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh under pressure to deliver rapid growth

4 May 2021
Vietnam Communist party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong applauds during a party meeting in Hanoi on Jan. 31: he was reelected to an unprecedented third term.
Opinion

Vietnam restores regional balance to top leadership

Pendulum finally swinging back to the south

14 April 2021
Pham Minh Chinh swears in as Vietnam's prime minister at an official ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam on April 5.
Politics

Vietnam picks new PM and president for next 5 years

New prime minister Chinh vows to 'inherit and promote achievements'

5 April 2021
Vietnamese Twitter and Facebook users are calling for a boycott of H&M after the fashion retailer used a controversial map of the South China Sea on its website. (Screen shot from Twitter)
International relations

H&M faces Vietnam boycott over South China Sea map

Backlash follows uproar in China over fashion retailer's Xinjiang stance

5 April 2021
A manufacturer works at an assembly line of Vingroup's Vsmart phone in Hai Phong, Vietnam. 
Economy

Vietnam Q1 GDP grows 4.5% on rising exports to US

Smartphones and PCs lead growth as companies continue to move from China

29 March 2021
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, center, being shown round a Vinfast auto plant in 2019 by Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, right.  
Economy

Vietnam reveals AI strategy as new leaders enter office

Hanoi seeks entrepreneurs and foreign investors to build tech powerhouse

23 March 2021
Lacking public transportation options, Vietnamese have relied on motorbikes to get around. (Photo by Atsushi Tomiyama)
Comment

Vietnam's true carbon threat: its kingdom of 50m motorbikes

CO2-spewing old two-wheelers an obstacle to decarbonization

15 March 2021
A man works at Hoa Phat steel mill in Vietnam, a country that has seen its steel exports to China increase by a factor of nine.
Trade

China steel imports surge 150% in 2020 on economic stimulus boost

Asian producers reap big benefits but supply glut fears persist

2 March 2021
A Samsung smartphone plant in Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam. The South Korean company operates two huge smartphone factories in the Southeast Asian country. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Economy

Vietnam courts chip investment to power up digital economy

Communist Party aims to grow tech sector to 30% of GDP in a decade

29 January 2021
Apple is tapping India and Vietnam to take over a greater portion of production from China. (Source phots by Reuters and Rie Ishii)
Trade war

Apple ramps up iPhone and iPad output shift to India and Vietnam

Move is part of wider shift from China that includes Macs, AirPods and more

27 January 2021
A mostly maskless crowd celebrates the new year countdown in the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. 
The Big Story

Asia's COVID recovery: Vietnam's breakout moment

A once-in-a-generation opportunity for the country that got it right

20 January 2021
Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has been elected as the country's secretary-general. (Photo by Manami Yamada)
Politics

Laos promotes PM Thongloun as leader of communist party

Under new secretary-general, impoverished nation expected to pivot futher to China

15 January 2021
An Isuzu factory in Thailand. The kingdom began developing into "Asia's factory" during the 1980s. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Economy

Thailand's Mekong play gives it leg up as Vietnam wins factories

Strong ties to neighbors prime the kingdom to share in the region's growth

14 January 2021
Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year. China is Laos' largest lender.
Economy

Laos shifts to China equity from loans as party congress starts

Beijing's communist sibling pushed to salvage state enterprises amid pandemic

13 January 2021
A bedding factory in Hanoi: Vietnam has succeeded in curbing both the health and economic impact of COVID-19.
Economy

Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia seen fully recovering in 2021

IMF unveils mixed economic forecasts for Southeast Asia

29 December 2020