Vietnam

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin attends a groundbreaking for a commercial complex in Ho Chi Minh on Sept. 2. (Photo courtesy of Lotte)
Retail

Lotte makes fresh Vietnam start after China exit and '5 lost years'

$900m shopping center paves way for No. 3 market after South Korea and Japan

7 September 2022
Singapore-based 99 Group is understood to be looking at acquisitions that could include Vietnamese property technology startup Propzy. (Source image from Propzy website)
7 September 2022
Oil tanks at a petroleum depot in the port of Vladivostok, Russia. Myanmar starts importing Russian fuel oil as early as September.
Ukraine war

Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar deepen Russia ties to blunt economic woes

Southeast Asia nations seen giving Moscow breathing room on sanctions

6 September 2022
A Be Group driver takes a break in Ho Chi Minh City, where COVID and the Ukraine war have fueled a driver and gas shortage. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Startups

Vietnam ride-hailer gets $60m Deutsche Bank loan to battle Grab

Be Group also competes with Gojek in food delivery and has digital bank

5 September 2022
Founded in 1998, Navis manages approximately $5 billion in private equity capital and focuses on investments primarily in Southeast Asia and nearby economies. (Screenshot from Navis website)
DealStreetAsia

Private equity firm Navis exits Singapore manufacturer Adampak

A unit of Japan's Oji Holdings is buying stake from Navis for undisclosed sum

2 September 2022
An audio parts factory outside Hanoi. Foreign manufacturers are moving beyond big cities, distributing the fruits of trade more evenly around Vietnam. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Supply Chain

Export demand a boon for Vietnam provinces, pre-built factories

Supply chains for Samsung, Lazada push trade to second-tier industrial zones

2 September 2022
Singaporean human resources startup Glints sees strong opportunities in the remote hiring of tech talent. (Photo courtesy of Glints)
Startups

Singapore's Glints gets $50m funding, to expand in Philippines

Japan's Persol-backed HR startup sees opportunities in remote hiring

30 August 2022
Heritas Capital has backed companies in the health care, food and education sectors across Asia. (Source photo from Heritas Capital website)
DealStreetAsia

Singapore-based Heritas Capital launches $50m impact fund

Company looking to finance 'social enterprises' in Asia

29 August 2022
Robert Li, a vice president at Synopsys, speaks with reporters in Ho Chi Minh City, where the chip software company is rebalancing operations amid a China-U.S. tech war. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Semiconductors

U.S. chip tool maker Synopsys expands in Vietnam amid China tech war

Design software company to train engineers as U.S. expands export ban

26 August 2022
Vietnam's Masan weighs a sundry mix of businesses: a smartphone app, a tungsten mine and an Amazon-style blend of e-commerce with stores it took over from Vingroup. (Photo by Lien Hoang) 
Retail

Can Alibaba-backed Masan be Vietnam's 'everything' company?

Retail giant juggles boring but profitable businesses with AI and IPO ambitions

24 August 2022
The Long Chau chain of drugstores has roughly 700 locations in Vietnam. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Business trends

Vietnam sees chain drugstores boom during COVID pandemic

New health-conscious consumers look for quality, deals outside mom-and-pop shops

24 August 2022
Vietnamese retail giant Masan Group is pushing to expand through coffee shops and other businesses. (Source images from Masan website)
23 August 2022
Group of Seven countries and democratic allies like Australia are dangling infrastructure support in Southeast Asia as an alternative to China's Belt and Road.
Asia Insight

China's ASEAN Silk Road gets slippery as other powers move in

U.S., Europe, India join battle to build regional supply chains from Thailand to Vietnam

23 August 2022
PetroVietnam operates the Dung Quat refinery in the northern part of Vietnam. The country currently has no refinery in the south near Ho Chi Minh City, which accounts for 45 percent of domestic demand.
Materials

PetroVietnam plans to build oil refinery complex for $18.5 billion

Locating in south solves transport woes, but oversupply could be an issue

19 August 2022
Central Group's investment over the next five year is aimed fulfilling its ambition of becoming Vietnam's biggest food and property retail platform. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Retail

Central to spend $1.4bn on expanding further in Thailand, Vietnam

Thai retail empire sees robust demand in post-COVID economies

19 August 2022
Producing the highly sophisticated Apple Watch would be a win for Vietnam as it attempts to further upgrade its tech manufacturing sector. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Technology

Vietnam to make Apple Watch and MacBook for first time ever

Country benefits as tech giant looks to build more products outside of China

17 August 2022
JERA's stake in GEC will give the Japanese company a further 190 megawatts of renewable power generating capacity, bringing its total to 1,900 MW. (Source photos from screenshots of JERA and GEC websites) 
Energy

Japan's JERA to buy 35% stake in Vietnam renewables operator

Companies will consider joint solar, wind projects in $112m deal

16 August 2022
B Medical Systems, purchased by Navis in 2015, is the world’s largest vaccine cold chain provider. (Source photos from company website)
DealStreetAsia

Malaysia's Navis to exit Europe medical cold chain company

Nasdaq-listed Azenta to acquire entire stake in vaccine storage provider B Med

16 August 2022
Super app provider Grab celebrated its 10th anniversary on Aug. 11 with the opening of a new headquarters in Singapore. (Photo by Tsubasa Suruga)
Technology

Singapore's Grab vows 'inclusive growth' for ASEAN's gig economy

Superapp to upskill small merchants, provide scholarships for students

11 August 2022
Singapore's Changi Airport is pushing ahead with a fifth passenger terminal, after the pandemic delayed its expansion plans.
Transportation

From Singapore to South Korea, airport ambitions face headwinds

Asia home to most expansion projects yet lags in traffic recovery after COVID-19

11 August 2022
TotalEnergies, like many of its peers, is speeding up its shift into renewables as the future for fossil fuels looks increasingly bleak. (Source photo by Reuters) 
Energy

France's Total to build solar panels in renewable-hungry Vietnam

Deal to generate 51 GWh of electricity a year as companies seek alternative energy

9 August 2022
Bananas are displayed at a shop in Halle, Belgium. Eaten across the world, the fruit is grown in the tropics, from Southeast Asia to Latin America.
Agriculture

Banana growers fight renewed extinction risk as lethal fungus spreads

Resurgence of Panama disease threatens one of world's most valuable crops

8 August 2022
Vietnam says it has attracted a semiconductor investment from Samsung.
Semiconductors

Samsung to begin making semiconductor parts in Vietnam in 2023

Southeast Asian nation picks up win in global battle to attract chip suppliers

6 August 2022
Tan Son Nhat Airport, near Ho Chi Minh City, has faced a severe taxi shortage. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Transportation

Vietnam taxi shortage exasperates travelers and expats

Fistfights and 1-hour waits at airport as riders scrum over cabs

6 August 2022
China's missile drills have forced Singapore Airlines and its budget carrier Scoot to cancel flights to and from Taiwan scheduled for Friday. (Source photos by Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters and Reuters)
Transportation

Asian carriers halt, reroute flights over Chinese drills near Taiwan

Beijing's military exercise could disrupt regional supply chains

5 August 2022