Good morning! Hello to all new readers and welcome to the latest edition of the Vietnam Weekly, written by Ho Chi Minh City-based reporter Mike Tatarski. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or feedback, hit ‘reply’ to this email.
For paying supporters, on Tuesday I published an article on BYD’s upcoming entry into Vietnam’s electric vehicle market and its potential impact on VinFast. You can upgrade to receive all future exclusive stories and access the full newsletter archive below.
Today’s newsletter is longer than the usual Friday update, as we’ve got one big story plus a smaller one that will impact those living in Vietnam. A new episode of The Vietnam Weekly Podcast arrives on Monday - it’s available on all major podcast platforms.
Putin’s Visit
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Hanoi from Pyongyang with limited fanfare just before 2 am Thursday. This meant there was little impact on traffic as Putin’s convoy made its way to the Metropole, unlike the security dress rehearsal on Wednesday morning.
This is Putin’s fifth visit to Vietnam and first since the 2017 APEC Summit in Đà Nẵng. I was also at that last one as a stringer for Politico.
Putin’s entourage includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and numerous other officials.
Nhân Dân, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, laid out (link in Vietnamese) the many historical milestones in the relationship between Vietnam and Russia, starting in 1950 when the USSR established diplomatic relations with North Vietnam.
On Wednesday, the outlet published an article by Putin stating:
“Vietnam is an ancient, vibrant, and independent civilization in the overall picture of a multipolar world. On the international stage, Hanoi pursues an independent foreign policy and strongly supports a fair world order based on international law, the principles of equality among nations, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.”
Yesterday, an official welcome ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace, with President Tô Lâm greeting Putin with a hug and a 21-cannon salute.
The two had a meeting that went longer than scheduled and announced 11 cooperation documents, including a Memorandum of Understanding to build a Nuclear Science and Technology Center in Vietnam.
The Dalat Nuclear Research Institute hosts the country’s sole nuclear reactor, used for scientific purposes and built by the Americans in the 1960s under the ‘Atoms for Peace’ program.
Putin then met Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng for further discussions before laying a wreath at the Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum.
There’s no denying that a visit by Putin - who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, though Vietnam is not a party to the Rome Statute - creates awkward optics, especially when he came directly from North Korea after making agreements that set off alarms in Western capitals.
Some may see this as a poke in the eye of the West, especially following September’s visit by President Joe Biden and the double-upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the United States - a status Russia has enjoyed since 2012. (Let’s take a moment to point out the uniqueness of Biden, Xi Jinping, and Putin visiting the same country in less than a year.)
Frustration is certainly evident. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi told Reuters “No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalise his atrocities."
The Embassy of the Netherlands posted on its Facebook page by referencing the invasion of Ukraine, which Vietnam remains neutral on: “For more than two years, tens of thousands of women, children and men have paid the price of war with their lives. War crimes were committed, including kidnappings of Ukrainian children to Russia.
[Putin] is held personally responsible for some of these war crimes. This is why the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against him.”
Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski posted an intriguing thread on Twitter noting, among other items, that “Few countries now welcome Mr Putin. But he needs to demonstrate that he is still a ‘world leader’. So Vietnam is doing him a huge favour and may expect favours in return.”
Russia’s options for favors are limited. Prime Minister Chính previously said Vietnam hopes for more energy cooperation with Russia, including in the nuclear space.
However, two planned nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuận Province were canceled in 2016 due to cost concerns and Power Development Plan 8 does not mention nuclear energy.
In terms of defense, Russia historically supplied much of Vietnam’s arsenal - most notably its current fighter jets, submarines, and tanks - but purchases have dwindled to almost nothing for a variety of reasons, including international sanctions and likely Russia’s own need to throw nearly everything it has at Ukraine.
In the meantime, Vietnam has discussed weapons deals with India, the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and the Czech Republic though Reuters reported in March that these talks have resulted in little.
Finally, Russia is a small economic partner - except for oil and gas exploration and fertilizer supplies. Two-way trade between the countries was around US$3.6 billion in 2023 - less than trade with Belgium - while that figure for the U.S. was nearly US$130 billion.
It’s unsurprising, then, that international media has greeted Putin’s visit with mild bewilderment: both Al Jazeera and The New York Times asked why he is visiting, while Bloomberg framed it as Vietnam ignoring U.S. criticism and David Hutt wondered “Why on earth did Vietnam agree to welcome Putin?” in his Europe Meets Southeast Asia newsletter.
Overall, while the optics of this visit are unquestionably awkward at best from a Western perspective, it’s hard to see Putin’s trip creating any meaningful change in Vietnam’s ‘bamboo diplomacy’ or geopolitical positioning vis-a-vis China and the U.S.
Bank transfers
From July 1, a new State Bank of Vietnam regulation (Decision 2345/QD-NHNN for those keeping track) will complicate domestic bank transfers of certain sizes - and it’s not clear how this will impact foreign residents.
This hasn’t received much English coverage yet, but according to Tuổi Trẻ News, from that date, any transfer under VND10 million will require one-time password (OTP) verification “provided that the total value of online transfers made from that account within that day remains under VND20 million.”
Local banking apps already use OTPs for transfers, so that’s not unusual - but the VND20 million ceiling is.
This new rule states that once daily transfers exceed that amount, any transfer - no matter the size- will require facial authentication.
To quote the news outlet again: “Face authentication is carried out by software which compares the facial characteristics of an individual against data stored in chip-based citizen identity cards, VNeID accounts, or biometric data stored in banks’ information systems…”
Here’s where things get complicated for foreign residents: we don’t have citizen identity cards or VNeID accounts, and as far as I know, banks don’t take our biometric data. (Please correct me if I’m mistaken.)
I’ve been emailing with a reader about this and he’s heard conflicting information from various banks and individuals, revealing an all-too-familiar situation where a major new regulation is imminent but nobody knows how it will be implemented.
My bank (Sacombank) has said nothing and there’s no mention of these rules on their (terrible) app, while this reader’s Techcombank app shows this. I assure you that foreign residents will not rush to local police stations to do this.
If you live in Vietnam, have you heard anything from your bank? There’s nothing wrong with wanting more security for bank transfers, but it’s unclear how this will proceed.
Extra Links
China’s Lust for Durian Is Creating Fortunes in Southeast Asia (The New York Times)
‘This country gave me a lot’: the Vietnamese people staying in Ukraine (The Guardian)
How Nations Defeat Poverty (American Institute for Economic Research)
Have a great weekend!
Michael - excellent balanced piece. Keep up the good work. In looking at your exchange with Mr Maclean and subsequently his Substack likes history I would observe that he’s not exactly a disinterested party with his views seemingly skewed towards anything anti Ukraine and pro Putin. I expect the same from Mr Dors who at least states his allegiances up front.
Unfortunately for some there's a challenge in differentiating between propaganda and journalism as is evidenced by their posts.
I have VPBank and (until a few days ago) VIB accounts and haven't heard anything about this from either of them.