Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City's Independence Palace has a new act — VietCharm, a 90-minute dining show pairing 9 traditional performances with 8 Vietnamese fusion courses. Its first three days sold out completely.
Vietnam
Four Vietnamese passengers hid 31 suspected gold bars in their bras and underwear on a flight from Taiwan. Hanoi customs caught them using X-rays and risk profiling. Bringing gold bars into Vietnam is illegal — the maximum sentence is 10 years.
Vietnam
Born in 1938 in colonial Hanoi, Vovinam has grown from an underground resistance art to a global sport practiced in over 70 countries — complete with a signature flying scissor kick, an inverted belt ranking, and a UN partnership.
Technology
Qualcomm's Vietnam GM calls 2026 the golden moment for tech. Foreign money is flowing in, local players are breaking ground, and FTSE is upgrading Vietnam. The data is moving — but the talent gap and production timeline are the biggest unknowns.
Guest Column
Vietnam expat roles sound appealing, but over 60% of postings are in manufacturing. Career coach Sunny shares four risk checks to think through before you go.
Vietnam
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Vietnam's crude oil imports, aviation routes, and shipping costs are taking simultaneous hits.
Vietnam
In January 2026, Starbucks opened its 150th store in Vietnam. Sounds like a milestone — until you compare it to Highlands Coffee's 928 stores and the country's 500,000 coffee shops. The world's biggest coffee chain is still a bit player in the world's second-largest coffee-producing nation.
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City has proposed a 99-story tower for its Thủ Thiêm district — taller than Landmark 81 and the centerpiece of Vietnam's new International Financial Center. But Thủ Thiêm's track record tells a more complicated story.
Taiwanese Business
King Liu went from a washed-out eel farm to building the world's largest bicycle company. He was 93 when he died on February 16. Giant's two factories in Bình Dương, Vietnam — nearly $180 million invested — are the latest chapter of the empire he started with 38 employees.
Semiconductors
At Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the admission score for semiconductor design is 28.07 out of 30. The medical school across town requires 28.13. The difference is rounding error. Vietnam's chip fever has reached the classroom.
Stock Market
Less than two months into 2026, Vietnam's IPO pipeline is the fullest it has ever been. Điện Máy Xanh, Hòa Phát Agriculture, Highlands Coffee — they're all in motion. The catalyst: FTSE Russell's September upgrade could funnel billions of dollars into Vietnamese equities.
Monthly magazine
Sponsor-exclusive monthly digest, Issue 1: Five in-depth features — Vietnam fraud, Saigon's currency history, teacher pay reform, campus space crunch, and Hanoi's motorcycle ban. 51 pages.