Key View

• Ford Motors' latest announcement that it intends to expand its Vietnam plant will provide only a modest boost to the country's vehicle output over 2020 and 2021.
• Strong demand for vehicles will be geared towards imported vehicles, which will offer little support to local production
• Skilled labour will also become an increasing

Key View

• The State Bank of Vietnam cut its interest rate caps on deposits and short-term loans on November 19.
• We at Fitch Solutions believe that this signals a dovish shift in monetary policy, aimed at strengthening economic growth to counter external headwinds.
• That said, we believe that the central bank is likely to continue conducting

Key View:

• The removal of foreign investors in the bidding process of eight Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects associated with the North-South Expressway in Vietnam presents a downside risk to timely project execution. The tendering process risks further delays as the ability to attract high-quality bids from a pool of domestic investors

Key View

• Vietnam’s diverse water infrastructure needs will drive growth of the sector over the next decade. Foreign companies are expected to play an important role in financing and construction.
• Bureaucratic inefficiencies have led to slow progress in water resource planning, meaning that any reforms to the sector will be a boon to the water

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions are revising up our real GDP growth forecast for Vietnam to 6.9% in 2019, from 6.5% previously.
• Real GDP growth accelerated to 7.3% y-o-y in Q319, from 6.6% y-o-y in Q219, driven primarily by stronger growth from the manufacturing sector.
• The influx of companies from China as a result of the US-China trade war

Key View

• The publication of a draft public-private partnership (PPP) law illustrates Vietnam’s progress in reforms to attract a greater level of private investment.
• The promulgation of the proposed PPP law will be a boost to Vietnam’s infrastructure sector, with a variety of sectors ranging from power to transport well positioned to benefit

Key View

• The State Bank of Vietnam announced a surprise 25 basis point interest rate cut on September 13, which would take its refinancing and discount rates to 6.00% and 4.00%, from 6.25% and 4.25% previously, effective September 16.
• We expect the central bank to remain on hold over the coming months to observe the impact of its rate cut on

Key View

• Vietnam’s historical self-sufficiency in natural gas is forecast to come to an end by 2022, as reserves and output both begin to decline.
• The country’s proposed, planned LNG-to-power projects pipeline remains robust, mostly put forth by a consortium of IOCs, seeking to make inroads into Vietnam’s fast-growing gas and LNG sector.
• Gas