Vietnam’s Growth Ambitions Are Outrunning Its Capital
Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s ambitious GDP growth target is premised on the building of infrastructure. But it is struggling to mobilise sufficient capital to finance such a goal.

Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s ambitious GDP growth target is premised on the building of infrastructure. But it is struggling to mobilise sufficient capital to finance such a goal.
Nguyen Khac Giang|Dien Nguyen An Luong
The Communist Party of Vietnam has set out a strategy to build confidence in its leadership. Success will depend on several factors, including credible messengers.
Le Hong Hiep|Moe Thuzar
The diplomatic thaw since August springs from Hanoi’s and Naypidaw’s strategic calculations. Both sides are willing to stabilise relations — without making irreversible commitments.
Nguyen Khac Giang
Vietnam is using land to pay for growth. This Long Read highlights the danger that land finance is hardening into a self-reinforcing growth model, arguing that Vietnam must make land finance more transparent, more competitive and less central to the economy’s balance sheet.
Le Hong Hiep
Vietnam’s massive school consolidation aims to concentrate resources and streamline a fragmented system through centralised digital management. If classroom quality fails to improve or worsens, that would undermine the rationale for this grand project.
Dien Nguyen An Luong
An incident involving a tree and roadside death underscores how official responses to youth grievances can fail to mollify.
Hoang Thi Ha|Pham Thi Phuong Thao
Young Vietnamese are increasingly drawn to Chinese culture and opportunity, even as long-standing sensitivities endure.
Nguyen The Phuong
Vietnam is building a new multi-role anti-submarine frigate. This underscores Hanoi’s maritime-oriented continental strategy, where a focus on land defence is coupled to a growing recognition of the importance of the sea.
Trang Jane Pham|Farah Ajlouni
Vietnam’s current success has a deeper explanation most might miss.
Nguyen Khac Giang
Vietnam’s Central Committee has embarked on the most sweeping administrative overhaul in decades. But success is likely to be uneven.