Your weekly business update on Vietnam.
Sharp, crisp, well-crafted - like your favorite bánh mì sandwich.
Happy Sunday!
Welcome to the first episode of Bánh Mì Brief in 2026 - and what a week to kick things off.
For expats, investors, and business leaders watching Vietnam, the first week of 2026 just answered the question everyone was asking at year-end: Is Vietnam serious about the next chapter? Yes. And it's moving fast.
Enjoy the read!
AUTO
VinFast-linked GSM eyes international IPO
Pham Nhat Vuong's electric taxi empire just threw a moonshot at Asia's stock markets. Green & Smart Mobility (GSM), the Vingroup-owned company running Vietnam's flashy Xanh SM EV taxis, is eyeing a Hong Kong IPO that could value it at $20 billion, enough to rival ride-hailing heavyweight Grab.
Advisers are already sharpening their pencils for a potential late 2026 or early 2027 debut. With GSM commanding 40% of Vietnam's ride-hailing market (sorry, Grab fans), this could be the capital injection both Vingroup and VinFast desperately need to fuel expansion across Southeast Asia and India. Hong Kong's been hoovering up capital this year, and a Vietnamese unicorn would be just the fresh listing they're hunting for.
TOURISM
Kicking of 2026 tourism with flowers and vouchers
VNA
On January 1, Vietnam's airports didn't just process tourists - they welcomed them like family. From HCMC to Phu Quoc to Da Nang, tourism officials were waiting at gates with flower bouquets, gift vouchers, and that infectious Vietnamese charm that makes expats feel like they never left.
Early arrivals from South Korea, Germany, Qatar, and Australia got the full treatment: free vouchers, cone hats, and front-row seats to traditional performances. Vietnam's set a moonshot target of 25 million foreign tourists in 2026 (16% up from last year's record 21.5 million).
QUICK BITES
Have you heard…
Vietnamese billionaires just got $28.48 billion richer in 2025, with Pham Nhat Vuong's Vingroup stake soaring 670% - he's now worth $30B and ranked #79 globally.
Vietnam's exporting 112,000 workers abroad in 2026, continuing its labor-force boom after shipping a record 144,300 workers overseas in 2025.
Moscow and Hanoi swapped formal official visit invitations for 2026, signaling deepening ties as bilateral trade hit $4.3 billion last year and nuclear power plant negotiations enter final stages.
Social media platforms are now banned from asking Vietnamese users for ID photos or secretly recording calls starting January 1, 2026.
Becamex and VSIP just got greenlit to build two massive industrial parks in south-central Khanh Hoa province.
OUTLOOK
HCMC betting big on AI
Viettel / TheInvestor
Ho Chi Minh City just assembled an all-star lineup - government, bankers, developers, foreign investors - to fast-track a $2 billion AI data center that could reshape Southeast Asia's computing landscape. Meet SGI-HCM Campus: 200 megawatts of raw GPU power, room for 100,000 graphics processors, and a December 31 announcement that said "no more delays." Built by Kinh Bac City Development (Vietnam's heavyweight industrial park operator), London-Hong Kong infrastructure firm AIC, and VietinBank, the project will sprawl across 10 hectares in Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park, with power infrastructure ready by end 2027 and full operations ramping soon after.
The city's Department of Science and Technology is literally herding all 15 government agencies into a single task force to bulldoze through red tape. And they're not alone: Abu Dhabi's G42 is simultaneously planning another $2 billion hyperscale facility in the same city, plus Viettel's already breaking ground on a 140 MW behemoth. Vietnam's current 41 data centers hold just 221 MW of capacity - think of it as a kid's LEGO tower. By 2030, the country's projected to hit 950 MW (4.3x growth). For tech investors and AI ops teams hunting for Asian capacity outside China, HCMC just became the story worth watching.
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See you next week! 🥖