Rủi ro thương mại Hoa Kỳ-Việt Nam, di dời nhà máy Trung Quốc và cải cách chính phủ với Valerie Vu - E549

Jeremy Au and Valerie Vu discussed Vietnam’s evolving role in global trade, the impact of US-China tensions, and the country’s sweeping internal reforms. They explore how foreign investments are reshaping Vietnam’s industries, how the government is navigating trade uncertainties, and how local businesses are adapting to increased competition. They also covered Vietnam’s efforts to modernize infrastructure, attract high-tech industries, and balance relationships with global powers. With a strategic mix of diplomacy, economic reform, and foreign direct investment, Vietnam is positioning itself for long-term growth despite short-term challenges.

1. Vietnam is bracing for US trade policies – Holding a $124 billion trade surplus with the US, Vietnam is under watch for potential tariffs. However, its penalties are expected to be lower than China’s, preserving its competitive edge in exports.

2. Chinese companies are relocating to Vietnam – One in three new investments comes from China, as manufacturers shift production to avoid US tariffs. Initially focused on final assembly, these companies are now moving entire supply chains to Vietnam.

3. Vietnam’s infrastructure boom is attracting foreign capital – The government is launching high-speed rail, metro lines, and road projects to boost logistics. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean firms are competing for contracts, making infrastructure a key driver of economic growth.

4. The government is restructuring for efficiency – In its largest administrative reform since 1986, Vietnam is cutting 20% of its public sector workforce and merging ministries. While aimed at reducing corruption, these changes are causing short-term business disruptions.

5. Foreign investors are competing in Vietnam’s growing economy – China and Hong Kong lead with 1,300 new projects, outpacing Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the US combined. While Vietnam welcomes all investors, proximity gives Chinese businesses a logistical advantage.

6. Vietnam is maintaining the “bamboo policy” strategy – The country balances relations with the US, China, and Russia through strategic trade deals. A $1.5 billion Trump-branded golf resort highlights Vietnam’s pragmatic approach to foreign investment.

7. Tourism and real estate are major economic drivers – Vietnam’s travel market is projected to more than double to $42 billion by 2030, driven by domestic and Chinese visitors. Meanwhile, real estate demand remains high, with a full market rebound expected by 2027.

(01:07) Jeremy Au: Hey, Valerie, really excited to have you back on the show. It's been a bit of a holiday. And people have been asking where is Valerie because we don't understand how Vietnam is adjusting to this new world of Trump. So welcome back.

(01:20) Valerie: Hi, Jeremy. Great to be back. Excited to share about Vietnam in this episode.

(01:26) Jeremy Au: So Valerie, the world has changed a lot. I think it's been about, you know, several months of break and, you know, during that timeframe Trump got elected and then he took office and then it's effectively been about two months. Since you know, he's been in power, so obviously lots of tariffs have been imposed on Canada, Mexico, as well as China.

(01:48) So kind of curious, Valerie, like, what's your quick, you know, summary of the situation from a Vietnamese perspective?

(01:53) Valerie: Yeah, actually, Vietnam is Also going through a lot of changes within the internal government. Like we also like going to (02:00) a huge, internal government reform. So why, Trump being elected is very significant. I feel like the Vietnamese government is already prepared for that coming.

(02:10) So they, they already have like tactics, some measurements this new administrations and. doesn't matter whether it's like Democrats or Republicans. I think we have really, diplomatic policy to work with either of the administration. Yeah, especially with with Trump. Know that we are one of the country that has the highest trade surplus with us. And Trump is very like. Unpredictable one day he can say like you're his friend and next day. He can be like you have a hundred billion trade surplus We need to increase the tariff to you. I think the Vietnamese government I already expect and predict this uncertainty, so They like internally they are doing a lot of reform in order to prepare for this four years of uncertainty as well. Yeah, but even Trump, he's very (03:00) opportunistic. Before getting elected, he signed a huge deal, huge real estate deal to invest in Vietnam. so he knows Vietnam will benefit from the trade war term or short term. So it's family organization already took advantage of that. 

(03:15) Jeremy Au: Why are they building in Vietnam?

(03:18) Valerie: Yeah. So the Trump family foundation in October last year signed a 1.5 billion bills to build a new. luxury golf resort in Hung Yen, is a northern province of Vietnam, one hour away from Hanoi. also that's also where the hometown of the current general secretary party chief told him he's from that province, he's from Huong Yen. yeah, they signed the MOU to build this new luxury Trump golf resort. Of course, joint venture with a local real estate group called Kinh Bac Industrial Group. Yeah, so it, they have some planning there and some like ambitious I guess goal and they see the potential in Vietnam and that's why they signed. This (04:00) deal before Trump get elected. So it's very opportunistic.

(04:03) Jeremy Au: So it's interesting because the Prime Minister of Vietnam said that he's happy to golf with Trump all day long.

(04:08) Valerie: Yeah. So the full context is the prime minister Phạm Minh Chính say that he's happy to go for Trump all day long. If that's what it's take to get investment, more investment from the US to So  Phạm Minh Chính the prime minister, their main job is to regulate and help economy govern control the economy and make sure the, economy is growing. So he's, he has a really capitalist mindset and he wants to get more money, more FDI investment to Vietnam. So that's why he shared that.

(04:39) Jeremy Au: mean, I think it's interesting because right now the Chinese companies are doing almost one in three new investments in Vietnam. Right. Because of this you know, kind of like trade tension and war is already happening. I think the statistic is that. You mentioned the trade surplus and Vietnam is one of the largest trade surpluses, right?

(04:58) Of 124 (05:00) billion last year,

(05:01) Valerie: Yeah.

(05:01) Jeremy Au: is the third largest after China and Mexico. So both China and Mexico have already received, you know, tariffs. 

(05:07) Valerie: Yeah.

(05:07) Jeremy Au: Vietnam is the third largest trade surplus seems to be next on the list.

(05:13) Valerie: Yeah, we definitely in the watch list. Because 100 plus billion is huge, right? so we expect to, prepare for mentally for some tariff, but I don't think we he will punish Vietnam to the level of China. So China, he might give tariff of like 20 percent or more. But I think maximum tariff for Vietnam is under 10%. so net is still the winners in this trade war

(05:38) Jeremy Au: Yeah. So I think it's an interesting piece, right? Because those that's linked, right? The trade surplus, the risk of trade war, the China tariff and the Chinese investment inflow is linked, right? Because it sounds like everybody's making a bet that, yes, Vietnam can get more trade tariff increases from the US, but it's always gonna be lower than China.

(05:55) So there is a tariff arbitrage if a Chinese company was to move from China to (06:00) Vietnam, the factories, the manufacturing you know, it's close by, it's linked to the Chinese manufacturing hubs through the, you know, kind of like the rail and the road networks and CE networks. So it's an interesting push factor for Chinese companies to move to Vietnam.

(06:16) Valerie: Yeah, definitely. especially, I think we mentioned a few episodes ago. We just signed the approval for high speed, like bullet train project from North to South. So first time ever we have a bullet train projects, and actually the Chinese government want the to build and develop this bullet train projects. So there are a lot of, infrastructure projects are being. and approved in the next 10 years for Vietnam. That's a goal of the new government new, the new party the new, general secretary really want to focus on building the infrastructure for the country. and yeah the Chinese government (07:00) took a, got a piece of that.

(07:01) Jeremy Au: I mean, it's interesting because you know, China, you know, the incentive is clear, right? Because it's manufacturing China, the certificate of origin is China versus if they move. You know, the factory or the final assembly to Vietnam, then it becomes Vietnam, right? I'm just kind of curious, like, what do you think is the mix between it being like a very, like, small step versus actually a very high level of value addition in that goods?

(07:26) Valerie: Yeah. Okay. So I think slowly there will be a major of the supply chain moved to Vietnam. So a few years ago, it only stopped at the last phase of assembling. But more and more you will get question like how, show me the entire supply chains and they, to, to avoid all those risk more and more the Chinese and other like manufacturers just move the entire supply chain to Vietnam. So one example is like furniture. I think the entire furniture like. Majority of the furniture you (08:00) buy in the U. S. are actually made in Vietnam, 100%, not just the assembly anymore. You're seeing that with the AirPod for Apple, I think slowly you will see more of those products, like so it's, yeah we, of course we started out with last, last phrase of the assembling line, but more and more Vietnam has got to move up to owning the entire supply chain. And that's also the wish and ambition of the new administration and the new government as well. And yeah, they're doing a lot of like reform to make sure the government is efficient and it's like tech driven because their ambition is to make Vietnam to become a high income country by 2045. So we are not happy with we are just escaping the low income, we have to escape the middle income trap. 

(08:49) Yeah, so more and more government will make sure they move entire supply chain to Vietnam.

(08:55) Jeremy Au: Yeah, right now, you know, Vietnam is China's third largest export (09:00) destination. So China, used to be going to Vietnam, Japan, South Korea. So these were like the top, you know, export destinations, but yeah, it's really interesting to see Vietnam. Is now the third, largest export destination and obviously is a function of both raw materials as well as intermediate goods, right?

(09:18) So I think it's interesting to see that shift happen. I'm just curious that, you know, these are primarily driven by push factors. Are there any pull factors that the Vietnamese government is offering to Chinese? Investors or manufacturers to make it easier, better for them to move more of their supply chain.

(09:35) Valerie: Not just Chinese manufacturing. So we're giving the pull factor for everyone who wants to invest, who wants to give jobs, in Vietnam. So we give like tax incentive. Yeah we're doing everything to pulling the foreign direct investment to Vietnam. Not just the Chinese.

(09:54) Jeremy Au: I think let's talk about all the people, right? So I think China, Hong Kong were about, you know, (10:00) 1, 300 new investment projects in Vietnam last year. Singapore is about 500 South Korea is about 400 Japan is about 300. Taiwan is about 200. And USA is about 100 investment projects. So I think China, Hong Kong together, you know, 1, 300 is roughly comparable to the next five put together, right?

(10:18) Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, USA. So is, is, so you're saying is the government trying to rebalance away from China and get encouraged more Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, USA investments, or is there like any differential treatment?

(10:31) Valerie: I don't think there is any differential treatment. It just happened that like China is a neighbor. Yeah, it's closer than, know, Singapore closer than Korea or Japan. So it's, easier for them to shift to like down south, which is probably like only one or two hours away. So I don't think there's any differential treatment as of now.

(10:54) Jeremy Au: Is there a nature or difference in a type of investments or manufacturing that these (11:00) different countries bring? Cause you know, do the Japanese, Singaporean, South Korea, Taiwanese, American, other investments like dessert for different flavor than the Chinese and Hong Kong manufacturers and investors.

(11:10) Valerie: I think the Japanese manufacturing tend to be more electronics and like cheap. In that sectors the Chinese manufacturing more like diverse. It can be like, furniture, as I mentioned, even like food and beverage cosmetic, a lot of Chinese cosmetic and beauty products are actually like now shifted to Vietnam. yeah. So I think the Chinese type of profile is more diverse. The Korean and Japanese are more like. Like electronics cheap design, et cetera. and that's, yeah, that's also the agenda of the party chief told him he really want to encourage more like hardware, more high tech, investment into Vietnam.

(11:50) Jeremy Au: So, you know, I'm curious because, you know, there was also a mentioned that Vietnam is going to buy, you know, 100 planes from America. (12:00) Just kind of curious, like, is that a way to like manage the trade tension or what's the push behind that?

(12:05) Valerie: Yeah, that's our, that's a part of our bamboo policy. We are firm, but we are flexible. We are friends with Russia, we are friends with China, and we are also friends with the US. So when Biden visited Vietnam last year, I think it was back in September. We agree to, purchase plan for Boeing and, be good friends with the US and yeah, that's just a part of our bamboo policy.

(12:29) Jeremy Au: Oh, that's interesting because, you know, you know, I think when I read the news is being relabeled as a Trump, kind of deal you know, for buying the. Planes, but I guess what's fair is that if it was done during the Joe Biden's visit to Hanoi, then it's kind of like a continuation or expansion of the deal.

(12:47) So I guess it's, I mean, it makes sense. I mean, obviously a Boeing plane is a multi year contract. So it's a long process to even get the jets delivered.

(12:58) Valerie: Yeah. To be fair, it started under (13:00) Biden. But Trump also he was really smart. Like he invited all the major conglomerates CEO from Vietnam and fly them to his golf resort. And, But he was like doing business deal with them. Why they play golf. Yeah. So he definitely wants to get that narrative going.

(13:18) Jeremy Au: Now I'm wondering how to improve my golf game, I guess. How's your golf game, Valerie?

(13:23) Valerie: I'm okay. Yeah, I'm okay.

(13:26) Jeremy Au: All right, next time in Singapore, I'll take you out and then we'll see

(13:30) Valerie: Yeah. The lady who owned the budget, largest budget ally in Vietnam, she didn't know how to play golf. So she was there. And then Trump was like teaching her how to play golf. you, I don't think.

(13:41) Jeremy Au: that is the best. That is the best move. It was like the, you know, the classic, like you go on a date. I don't know how to bowl. Can you teach me how to bowl?

(13:49) Valerie: Yeah.

(13:50) Jeremy Au: So I think what's interesting, obviously, is that it sounds like. Vietnam obviously will try to track more investments from America. Obviously, I think it's one way to rebalance or at least balance out that side. Then, (14:00) I guess, buy planes. Is there any other goods that Vietnam could buy from America?

(14:04) Maybe, like, military you might hit? I don't know. But I think historically you said that military was bought from Russia, right? So I'm just kind of curious.

(14:11) Valerie: Yeah. Yeah. So military we traditionally bought from Russia but a lot of high tech and products. For example, you saw the Starlink deal. They want to invest more than a billion into Vietnam. Yeah. Those are the services and products we buy directly from the U. S. and from American companies. And not from U. S. Not from China or Russia. I would say education right now for, like the biggest dream of most Vietnamese students is still to study abroad in the U. S. Not China or Russia. I would say social capital, education wise, U. S. is still like home away.

(14:47) Jeremy Au: Makes sense for them to do a deal with Starlink, obviously, because, you know, Elon Musk does a lot of manufacturing in general. He's in a good position at the White House. And I think Starlink will obviously make it much easier to digitize the (15:00) whole Vietnamese economy, right?

(15:01) Because now you have internet everywhere. You don't have to delay broadband and fiber. So, I think it's a win win for everybody there. It is It's interesting because, you know, China is very anti Starlink because they have you know, the great Chinese Firewall, right, around the censorship or the control of what is, you know, allowed into China.

(15:19) Is there a similar dynamic for the Vietnamese internet ecosystem? Because I've been there and I've been able to use my Instagram to take photos of my

(15:24) you know, trips, but I'm just kind of curious from your perspective.

(15:27) Valerie: yeah, we have some firewall and some protection, but not to the extent of Chinese government. you come in here, you can still use Facebook, Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, just like you're in the U. S. But if you try to, enter some website like BBC or some website that is very anti current administration, like current communist party, It will totally be banned.

(15:51) You cannot access websites like BBC or some hostile forum that are anti government.

(15:58) Jeremy Au: And I'm kind of (16:00) curious because you mentioned that at the start of this conversation that Tô Lâm has been pushing a lot of internal change as well on top of this, you know, kind of like response to a change to the U. S. So what have been the internal changes for Vietnam from your perspective?

(16:13) Valerie: Yeah, so technically we are going through our own DOJ reform. not sure if, we have to explain the DOJ reform, but we are cutting about 20 percent of the public workforce sector. Yeah, we are merging so many ministry together. Merging the provinces. So reduce the amount of provinces that Vietnam has. the government even abolish the district level police. So if the police level, it used to be like city level, district level, and then communal war level. Now they just cut the middle layer. So it's honestly a bit chaotic right now. A lot of government officers don't even know if they have the job the next day. Some people have a bit like negative (17:00) sentiment this day because they don't know if they have the next paycheck. The intention is for the greater good for, reducing budget, cutting the fat, cutting the corruptions, becoming more efficiency so that we have enough budget pay for our infrastructure project, which I mentioned, like we have a bullet chain coming.

(17:19) We have to open four more metro line in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. that's very expensive. We have to our workforce. So we are going through our own like Doge reform or like layoff movement.

(17:32) Jeremy Au: I had no idea.

(17:34) Valerie: yeah, it's the most significant change since 1986 for Vietnam government.

(17:38) And yeah, To Lam Gen Party Chief To Lam is the main orchestrator of this project, this ambitious project.

(17:45) Jeremy Au: What's the link with the prior Blazing Furnace anti corruption campaign? Because I know that was in full swing. During the last administration, but I'm just kind of curious, like, is it still going on or has it transitioned to this, you know, government efficiency (18:00) drive?

(18:00) Valerie: Yeah, I think this is a phase two of the anti corruption campaign. phase one they arrested all the party that caused the corruption and the bureaucratic in the government they cleaned out And this is phase two, we have to reform to become a greater good make sure budget is on track to pay for our infrastructure. If you are aware, our debt to GDP is among the lowest in Southeast Asia region. So we don't want to keep borrowing like more money pay for this infrastructure projects. We want to remain as one of the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the region. 

(18:38) Jeremy Au: I guess one way to think about it, of course, is that you have less layers, you know, then things move a bit faster, you have less people, then you have less, you know, kind of like dynamics around, you know, more streamlined, more efficient, and then obviously the anti corruption piece. Do you feel like it has any impact on the daily life of Vietnamese citizens?

(18:57) Like, I don't know, is it like harder to get a driver's (19:00) license? I'm just kind of curious right now.

(19:01) Valerie: I think daily life of a citizen who like just go work for corporate, it's not much change. But for a business owner, there's a lot of changing. Because now you, if you want to get approval or license the government for new projects, like for a construction project, for example. you don't know when that will be approved because the person, let's say before the police district police division used to be in charge of that approval. Now he's gone. So where do you go to, do you go to the city level or do you go to the communal level? It's very uncertain. it is more, it affects more to business owners, especially like small business owners.

(19:45) Jeremy Au: So I think what's interesting is that, you know, obviously the economy of Vietnam is like in two sections, right? One is obviously the export oriented, you know, the large companies. Obviously they are working with the U. S. and working with Chinese capital. For small medium enterprises, how are they feeling, right?

(19:57) Because we talked about it before is that a lot of small (20:00) producers. Struggling because they're competing against Chinese imports and Chinese competitors, right? So I think I just recently read like, you know, Chagi, which is the Chinese bubble tea, milk tea brand is moving into Vietnam, which is, I think, obviously good for people who like sugar and milk and everything.

(20:15) But obviously I can imagine that's like competition against your local F& B, you know, restaurants and so forth. So I'm just kind of curious, how are they doing in this new macro environment?

(20:24) Valerie: yeah, it's a challenging time. Even the largest FNB group in Vietnam did not really expand aggressively last year. So they're focusing on make sure managing the current store per store level. FNB, yeah, especially the local FNB, are going through a challenging time. It hasn't recovered to the I guess, pre anti corruption campaign, pre real estate crisis campaign real estate crisis. It hasn't recovered to that level. And yeah, it's not helpful that the Chinese, more and more Chinese F& B are entering Vietnam. Not just Chagi, right? (21:00) It's a lot of Chinese hotpot, like Haidilao, and some chains similar to Haidilao are, like, in Vietnam really fast.

(21:06) Jeremy Au: I mean, I think it's interesting, right? Because You know, at one level you can call this, like, this is a modernization, right, of the Vietnamese economy. So those that are less innovative, I'm just saying we'll just have to level up the game or otherwise to get eaten by franchises and so forth. I think the other argument, of course, is that from a domestic perspective, you should be supporting these local F& B and local small manufacturers.

(21:29) And I think Indonesia, in contrast, has been a little bit more focused on protecting local manufacturers you know, and small medium enterprises compared to Vietnam. So I'm just kind of curious, what do you think?

(21:40) Valerie: Yeah, I think it's a hard argument to debate because I want to encourage like competitions and fair, kind of fair competition, right? For example, if we talk about e commerce we allow a lot of foreign players to enter Shopee, Lazada, TikTok shop. At some point we enter we allow Temu (22:00) to enter, but, they have to exit because they didn't fulfill enough paperwork to government. And that's why all those foreign e commerce players took over Tiki, which is a local e commerce traffic. And yeah, Tikki is no longer in the top chart of market share, e commerce market share in Vietnam. So by encouraging foreign competitions, you make the market like more competitive. You make entrepreneur here in Vietnam have to stay on top of the trend and stay more resilient.

(22:29) But at the same time you make the death of the local guy much faster.

(22:34) Jeremy Au: Yeah, I don't think it's an easy answer. And I think it's interesting because Southeast Asia you know, as a region is also not very protectionist against Chinese exports compared to obviously EU and definitely of course versus America. So even though I think Indonesia is more protectionist than Vietnam.

(22:53) And Vietnam is probably a bit less protectionist. Well, it's about equal to Singapore, I would say. (23:00) So, but it's just that as a region, we're still, you know, net net relative to other regions. Not putting up that many trade barriers with China. So, I don't think there's an easy answer here. Of course, I think there are different segments in the market that benefit or lose, right?

(23:12) I think tourism, for example I know is getting better in Singapore and Vietnam as well. I think I just saw a report that Vietnam travel market is expected to grow at 15 percent year on year. So it will grow from, you know, 18 billion last year to a projected 42 billion in 2030. So there's actually a huge increase, you know, that's like effectively a doubling of the tourism industry over the next.

(23:36) You know, five years and all of it is driven by domestic travel as well as, you know, Chinese travel as well.

(23:42) Valerie: Yeah, I think and hospitality in Vietnam have still huge potential and like now, most people only know about the tier one cities like Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City. they don't really know of the Tier 2 cities, which are as beautiful, but so much more (24:00) affordable. The nearest town in Ho Chi Minh City is Mui Ne, it's about an hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City. it's being, like, developed really there. Most of them are still boutique resort projects. I guess less than a hundred rooms each resort. But, yeah, the scene there is very bustling, so many more projects are building, but still a very medium sized project scale.

(24:24) Because not a lot of people know about Tier 2. Only the domestic residents like myself know about that or that area. but tourists might not aware of those Tier 2 cities. I think there's still even more room to grow in the hospitality and tourism sector in Vietnam.

(24:41) Jeremy Au: So what do you think that means for, you know, the opportunities, right? I mean, like, you know, if I was like, take a step back. Okay. You know, Trump, just a change. Okay. So it sounds like to me, if I was a business person, I would be like, okay. Number one is. Maybe invest in tourism. That's one. Two (25:00) is work with the Chinese and JVs to bring Chinese capital and expertise as they, you know, relocate their factory and manufacturing supply chain into Vietnam and continue exporting to the U.

(25:09) S. as number two. And then number three is, I don't know, become a franchisee of a Chinese F& B, you know, or other consumer brand, right? That's number three. I mean, what, what are the other opportunities you think will happen because of this? Yeah.

(25:22) Valerie: I think also don't don't forget about real estate. still the largest, I guess the most valuable asset of any Vietnamese, right? Because as Vietnamese, we cannot invest overseas. So for us mentally, will be the most valuable asset ever. It's gonna, it's always gonna go up. I think the real estate crisis was a good correction moment. In 2027, there will be like much more booming in the real estate market. Yeah I'm also trying to get into the market right now.

(25:52) Jeremy Au: Okay. No, I got to ask a question actually, which is you know, I think China also had a real estate crisis, right? Around a bit earlier than this process, but some similar (26:00) dynamics because there's a crackdown. You know, there was also a push on the restructuring of the economy and so forth. I'm just kind of curious because you seem a lot more bullish that Vietnam will definitely, you know, property prices will always go up.

(26:12) That's a, you know, but I think China is still struggling with that real estate crisis is still kind of like slow motion, not being fully fixed yet. So I guess I got to ask questions like, what do you see a difference? And also I think a big difference as well as in China, the land is all owned by government.

(26:27) Is Vietnamese land owned by the government or is it owned by individuals? I'm just kind of curious. Yeah.

(26:31) Valerie: yeah. There's fundamentally big difference between the crisis in China and Vietnam. The crisis in China, because the fundamental, the demand is not there, right? There's too many supplies. They built, they overbuilt apartments and, real estate. Project in China. On the other hand, Vietnam.

(26:49) We actually have demand problem. We have supply problem. We have too many like young people or young family want to a house, but there's not enough supply, (27:00) especially with let's say, two bedroom apartment in the city. as a tourist coming into Ho Chi Minh City, for example, I don't have many choices.

(27:08) Either I go to like hotel, which are 200, 300 US dollar per night, or have to find Airbnb, but then recently The city recently have announced that they will ban Airbnb in Ho Chi Minh City, because they want to that real estate, like the two bedroom, family who actually want to stay and want to buy a house, instead of giving it to some tourists. we have a supply, problem. So it's very different and I think Yeah, real estate has huge room to, to grow in Vietnam still. And I think timing wise, confidently, I would say 2027 and everything will be like double to triple. Oh, this is not investment advice, but it's just my opinion.

(27:52) Jeremy Au: Sorry, it's like, it's like, Jeremy goes out to buy a house in Vietnam now. I don't, I don't, I'm not allowed to, right? I mean, I think I have to be a Vietnamese national (28:00) to.

(28:00) Valerie: yeah to for that part the land yes does belong to government But if you are vietnamese citizen you can technically like rent in the get that land permission to use independently, if you are foreigner, they limit you to choose between a few options only. So I'm a Vietnamese, I can choose whatever projects like to, I can buy from any project I want. But for a foreigner, you can have I feel, I think a really few options. Yeah. They want to protect that asset to Vietnamese citizens only.

(28:32) Jeremy Au: The question I got to ask you is, you know, in Singapore, you know, there is government land and then residents can lease it from the government for 99 years, right? So it's called 99 year land. So is that 99 years or so for you all? Or is it?

(28:45) Valerie: Yeah.

(28:46) Jeremy Au: Okay.

(28:46) Valerie: Yes.

(28:47) Jeremy Au: so all land, all residential land that is bought by people, whether by a house or property developer is on a 99 year lease from the government.

(28:54) Valerie: Look, it's just not, it's not just a residential land. I think all land in (29:00) Vietnam belongs to the government. We are a socialist republic country. Everything we own belongs to the government. So the largest real estate owner in Vietnam is our communist party.

(29:12) Jeremy Au: Yeah. No, I'm just wondering because I think in Singapore, there's like, I think less than 10 percent of land is. Kind of like freehold, which is, I think, you know, owned by private people. And then about 90 percent of land is leasehold, which is leased from government. So what he's telling me is that, you know, Vietnam is a hundred percent, which is my understanding for China as well.

(29:33) So I just just kind of curious as well. Awesome. On that note, thank you so much, Valerie, for sharing your story.

(29:38) Valerie: Yeah. Thank you.