Vietnam, Asia’s new tiger economy, is roaring. Investors take note.

Just two decades ago, Vietnam was one of the world’s poorest nations. Now it is a thriving regional hub with ample scope for further rapid development.

Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City Bach Dang Wharf Aerial view on Saigon River
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ask old China hands about the early 2000s and you are likely to be met with a nostalgic sigh. The years following Beijing’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 were a thrilling time in the Middle Kingdom. GDP growth repeatedly topped 10% per year. Foreign investment flooded in and manufactured goods poured out in astonishing quantities onto global markets. 

Of course, rocky geopolitics have since soured that dream of an emerging “global village” (how often do we hear that term anymore?). Yet there is still a place where that post-Cold-War optimism is alive and well. To China’s south, there is another communist country whose economic dynamism, manufacturing prowess and openness to the West feels reminiscent of early 2000s China: Vietnam.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.