Vietnam

Vietnam is back in the game for buyout firms

18 Jul 2013

Warburg Pincus is investing $200 million in the country’s largest mall owner at a time when retail sales growth is at a 10-year low. The U.S. private equity firm’s punt might be premature, but it isn’t wrong. Vietnam is outgrowing its bad reputation with foreign capitalists.

Vietnam floats a lifeboat for foreign creditors

8 Feb 2013

The government has helped end a two-year standoff between bankrupt shipbuilder Vinashin and overseas lenders by guaranteeing a new $620 million bond. That will aid the country’s capital market rehabilitation. But the victims of other shipwrecks shouldn’t count on similar rescues.

QE-lenient world gives Vietnam financial pardon

6 Nov 2012

Even after a downgrade by Moody’s last month, investors are willing to lend Hanoi dollars for less. Rising exports helped avert a balance of payments crisis and officials apologized for economic goofs. But in a world awash with cash, investors are too eager to forgive and forget.

Vietnam is a bad example to newly emerging markets

1 Oct 2012

The Southeast Asian nation has gone from budding Asian tiger to near-basket case. The global economic slowdown and local corruption are both to blame. Vietnam needs to reboot its banks and foreign investment plans if it’s to offer any positive lessons for the likes of Myanmar.

It’s risky to be big fish in murky Vietnam markets

24 Aug 2012

The arrest of tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien has roiled the country’s tiny stock market. Never mind that he no longer controls the bank he founded: with weak banks, widespread corruption and poor governance, investors fear that if he goes down, he may take the financial system with him.

Cuba unveils a Hugo Chavez hedge: economic reform

24 Apr 2012

With the island’s last rich patron battling cancer, Raul Castro may finally see the writing on the wall. If he can reduce the state’s role in the economy and relax restrictions on capitalist activities, Cuba’s future won’t be North Korea or even Vietnam - but rather Turkey.

No easy pickings for vultures in Vietnam

13 Dec 2011

Elliott Advisors is suing a state-owned shipping firm over a defaulted $600 mln loan. It’s good that punchy hedge funds are helping keep emerging-market borrowers honest, where big institutions may be more supine. But it’s a lot of hassle for what may be at most a $25 mln gain.

Vietnam could use capitalist pep talk from Merkel

12 Oct 2011

The German chancellor’s trip to Hanoi may bring tough questions on the capitalist model. Vietnam grew rapidly by opening to trade 25 years ago, but Europe’s woes are causing pressure on reserves and capital flight. It shows how the euro crisis is a developing world problem, too.

IMF financial crisis indicator bodes ill for China

21 Sep 2011

The fund has found a measure of credit growth that could predict crunches. It makes the Middle Kingdom look precarious and heralds problems for Turkey and Vietnam. The IMF’s crisis-spotting record is lousy. But overheating nations shouldn’t dismiss what seems a sensible metric.