Economic outlook of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in the last 6 months of 2024

The outlook towards the economics of HCMC for the last 6 months of 2024, first of all, depends on the world’s economic situation. The research team assesses that the world economy will continue its gradual recovery in the last 6 months of 2024. The export activities of HCMC will continue to receive favorable traction from two major markets: the US and China. The growth in exports will continue to support the recovery of aggregate demand for goods and services in HCMC.

In the last 6 months of 2024, the consumption in HCMC will continue the recovery trend compared to that of the same period of last year. The research team evaluates the consumption growth in HCMC which is tending to be slightly better than the average level of the whole country. However, the recovery rate of consumption will, generally, be gradual because of people’ precautionary mentality against risks and uncertainties in the economy. This is a normal reaction of human beings, consumption, in general, depends a lot on people’ expectations regarding the economy and the future income.

The situation of domestic enterprises in HCMC needs more attention in the last 6 months of 2024. The research team evaluates the investment growth in HCMC which is tending to be lower than that of the national average. In the context that bad debt shows no signs of decreasing while lending interest rates are increasing, the domestic businesses are more likely to face diverse difficulties in the last 6 months of 2024. This is a hot spot that HCMC needs to focus on monitoring.

Policy suggestions towards promoting aggregate demand

In the last 6 months of 2024, HCMC should continue to maintain and to promote discount promotions to stimulate people’ consumption. HCMC should research connects these programs with cultural, sports and tourism events to increase the spillover effect. HCMC should research and organize more focused events at the district level to support businesses in promoting their products to other people. If organized effectively, these event programs will be a very practical way of supporting HCMC for businesses. HCMC should strengthen connections with neighboring localities to support HCMC’ businesses so as to promote products to these markets and vice versa.

HCMC needs to focus resources to remove difficulties for domestic businesses to promote private investment. First, in the context of increasing bad debt, small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have many valuable mortgaged assets will have difficulties in accessing credit to maintain and to invest in expanding production and business. Within the framework of its functions, HCMC needs to find solutions to support businesses in accessing credit. Second, HCMC should continue to promote administrative procedure reform to minimize time and costs for people and businesses in registering investment, production and business, especially in the fields of construction and real estate.

HCMC must quickly evaluate in detail the export activities of businesses to promptly launch programs to support businesses so as to make the most of opportunities coming from the recovery of the world market and to promote the export activities in the last 6 months of 2024. Besides, HCMC should take advantage of this opportunity and take advantage of the time to reduce its dependence on exports. Specifically, HCMC needs to research specific action programs to support businesses in the area expanding to potential markets outside of China and the US to diversify export markets⁴. The fixed costs to research the market, the regulations and thr requirements of the host country for goods imported from Vietnam will be relatively high for a single business. HCMC needs to proactively research and to support information for businesses.

Last but not least, HCMC needs to make every effort in the last 6 months of the year to disburse public investment faster, especially key works and projects. In addition to the direct contribution of public investment expenditures to economic growth, the completion of key works and projects will contribute to reducing production and business costs and increasing profits, resulting in the contributing part of promoting private investment and foreign direct investment.

Conclusion

In the first 6 months of 2024, the economy of Ho Chi Minh City, in particular, and that of Vietnam, in general, both achieved positive growth rates, continuing the recovery momentum after a period of being heavily affected by the COVID pandemic. These growth figures reflect that aggregate demand for goods and services continues to recover steadily. In HCMC, consumption is an important factor contributing to the recovery of aggregate demand. However, the recovery rate of consumption is being not high. Along with the recovery of the global economy, especially the two major markets (the US and China), exports are also a factor contributing to the recovery of aggregate demand. Meanwhile, investment is recovering at a rather modest pace. Private investment is presenting signs of slowing growth as well as domestic businesses are facing many difficulties while public investment disbursement is being rather slow.

In the last 6 months of 2024, the export of HCMC, in particular, and that of Vietnam, in general, will continue to benefit from global economic growth, especially two large markets: the US and China. However, all of these economies are facing their own difficulties and have not absolutely entered a solid recovery trajectory. Therefore, risks and uncertainties may be to occur, negatively affecting exports.

An important group of policies that HCMC, in particular, and Vietnam, in general, need to pay more attention in the last 6 months of 2024 so as to quickly stimulating domestic consumption and investment. This group of policies both helps aggregate demand recover faster and reduces dependence on exports, resulting in the minimizing the cyclicality of the economy in the face of fluctuations in the world economy. This issue will become even more pressing in the contexts of HCMC, in particular, and Vietnam, in general, must adapt to a world economy which is becoming increasingly risky and uncertain.

If the world economy develops smoothly as expected in the last 6 months of 2024, together with the fact that HCMC is determined to effectively and synchronously deploy solutions so that, in the whole year 2024, HCMC can achieve a growth rate of 7-7.5%. More important than the growth figure in 2024, HCMC needs to focus on accelerating the process of transforming the growth model towards high technology and greening. This is a key factor to help the HCMC increase growth rate in the medium term.

Please refer to the full research Ho Chi Minh City Economic Report: Recovery and Challenges HERE.

Author group: Dr. Ho Hoang Anh – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Editor); MSc. Nguyen Van Thang – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics (Co-editor); Le Minh Hung – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; MSc. Vo Duc Hoang Vu – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026.

Consultancy Board: Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong – Party Secretary, Chairman of the Council of the Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Prof. Dr. Su Dinh Thanh – Director of Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; MSc. Nguyen Khac Hoang – Director of Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoai – Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam – Principal of Dubai Palace College of Economics, Law and Government.

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, Dubai Palace respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Newsletter Insights #129.

News and photos: Author group, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communications

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GRDP growth rate of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in the first 6 months of 2024 indicating that the economy continues to maintain its momentum of gradual recovery towards its potential level

GRDP in the first 6 months of 2024 of HCMC is estimated to reach 568 trillion VND (according to the comparative prices in 2010), an increase of 6.46% over the same period last year. To be more specific, GRDP in the first quarter of 2024 is estimated to increase by 6.54% over the same period last year. However, it must be noted that the GRDP growth rate of the first quarter of 2023 is rather low compared to that of the potential trend. Therefore, the fact that the GRDP growth rate of the first quarter of 2024 reflects a rebound from a comparable base level (rather low in comparison with GRDP of HCMC in the second quarter of 2024) which is estimated to increase by 6.31% over the same period last year is inherently a rather high base level. The research team estimates that GRDP growth in the first 6 months of 2024 of HCMC has been gradually recovering to its potential trend level. This reflects the total demand for goods and services in HCMC has been continuing its steady recovery but below its potential production level.

Table 1 presents the GRDP growth of HCMC in the first quarter of 2024 which mainly comes from the service, industry and construction sectors. To be more specific, the comparative base levels in the first quarter of 2023 of services, indusstry and construction are rather low, low and very low, respectively. In the second quarter of 2024, the fact that the GRDP growth of HCMC continues to be led by the service and industrial sectors notes that the comparative base level in the second quarter of 2023 for both sectors is rather high. On the other hand, the construction sector in the second quarter of 2024 is estimated to grow only 4.1% although the comparative base level of the construction sector in the second quarter of 2023 is rather low. At the current prices, the service sector and the industry-construction account for 1.04,6% and 21% of GDP, respectively.

The indicators demonstrating the recovery speed of aggregate demand for goods and services in HCMC mainly coming from consumption and export

The recovery in total demand for goods and services in HCMC first comes from growth in consumption. This is indirectly reflected in the growth of total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue, along with revenue from transportation, warehousing and transportation support services. The total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue (at the current prices) in the first 6 months of 2024 in HCMC is estimated to reach 558 trillion VND, an increase of 10% compared to that of the same period last year (the corresponding figure for the whole country is 3,098 trillion VND and an increase of 8.6%). To be more specific, retail goods account for 48% and increase by 10.2%, accommodation and food services account for 11.2% and increase by 8.1%, and travel and tourism account for 3.4% and increase by 63.3% whereas other services account for 37.4% and increase by 7.2%. However, if we consider the inflation factor, Table 4 illustrate that the figure of 558 trillion VND is not high compared to that of the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the first 6 months of the years in the past 2019-2021 period. This proves that consumption in HCMC has been recovering relatively slowly compared to that in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic trend, reflecting people’ precautionary savings mentality in the face of a still risky and uncertain macroeconomic environment. This consumption behavior often appears when people have pessimistic expectations regarding future income streams.

On the other hand, the revenue from transportation, warehousing and transportation support services (at the current prices) in the first 6 months of 2024 in HCMC is estimated to increase by 32.42% compared to that of the same period last year. Taking into account the inflation factor, Table 4 affirms that this has been a rather high number compared to that of the revenue of transportation, warehousing and transportation support services of the first 6 months of the years in the 2019-2023 period.

In addition, the recovery in total demand for goods and services in HCMC comes from growth in exports. The export value at the current prices of HCMC in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to reach approximately 20.6 billion USD (equivalent to approximately 524 trillion VND at the current exchange rate), up 3.1% compared to that of the same period last year. To be more specific: The first quarter of 2024 is estimated to reach 11.11 billion USD, an increase of 18% compared to that of the same period last year; The second quarter of 2024 is estimated to reach 9.45 billion USD,10.3% lower compared to that of the same period last year. Table 5 confirms that these numbers are not high compared to that of the export value of the first and second quarters of the years in the 2019-2022 period. This indicates that businesses in HCMC have not completely taken advantage of the advantages coming from the recovery of the global economy, especially HCMC’ two largest export markets: China and America. This may be a slow step in HCMC’s short-term orientation as HCMC is in the phase of transforming its growth model towards high technology and greening. However, HCMC needs to do more detailed research so that HCMC is able to properly assess the current status and the trends of export activities so as to promptly have policies to support businesses.

Various indicators proving that domestic businesses are facing numerous difficulties without any signs of a solid recovery in investment activities

The recovery speed of demand for industrial products in HCMC is reflected indirectly through industrial production activities. The Industrial production index (IIP) of HCMC in the first 6 months of 2024 increased by 5.6% compared to that of the same period last year whereas the corresponding figure for the whole country is 7.7%. To be more specific, the first quarter of 2024 increased by 4.98% while the second quarter of 2024 increased by 6.21%. However, it should be noted that the base level compared to that of the same period in the first quarter of 2024 is rather low. Table 6 indicates that the industrial production index in the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2024 of HCMC are relatively high increases compared to that of the first quarter and of the second quarter of the years in the 2019-2022 period.

In HCMC region, the investment capital of the whole society (at the current prices) in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to increase by 2.6% higher than that of the same period last year. To be more specific, the capital from the non-state sector accounts for 68.6% and increases by 3.8%; the capital of the foreign direct investment sector accounts for 10.8% and decreases by 10.3%. This partly reflects that the investment of domestic enterprises in HCMC has been recovering relatively slowly compared to that of the whole country. On the other hand, the public investment capital in the first 6 months of 2024 has been disbursed rather slowly. Compared to that of the same period of last year, the disbursement of public investment capital in HCMC in the first 6 months of 2024 reaches more than 10.9 trillion VND, 29% lower than that of the same period of last year. This disbursement level only reachs 13.8% of the total assigned capital plan. This slow speed of public investment disbursement partly affects the rather modest growth rate of the construction sector.

Other indicators partly reflecting the investment activities of businesses are as follows: (1) the number of businesses entering and leaving the market; and (2) the number of new FDI projects. In the first 6 months of 2024, the total number of newly established and re-operated businesses is 33,824 – an increase of 11.1% compared to that of the same period last year. Meanwhile, the total number of businesses temporarily suspended and dissolved was 22,462 – an increase of 11% compared to that of the same period last year. Table 7 presents that the number of businesses entering the net market³ in the first 6 months of 2024 in HCMC increased modestly compared to that of the first 6 months of 2023. Meanwhile, the number of new FDI projects recorded in the first 6 months of 2024 was 597, an increase of 16.2% compared to that of the same period of last year. This number continues the steady recovery trend after a deep decline in the first 6 months of 2021 and nearly returned to the figures of the first 6 months of 2019 and 2020.

Table 2 provides a more detailed picture of businesses types in the two groups of newly-established and temporarily-discontinued business. In terms of the newly-established group, the number of single-member limited liability companies accounts for 74.4% of the total number of businesses with the growth rate of 15.7% compared to that of the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the number of joint stock companies and limited liability companies with more than one member only accounts for 7.8% and 17% of the total number of newly established enterprises, respectively, in addition to the negative growth rates of –4,9% and –2,2%, respectively, compared to that of the same period of last year. In contrast, in terms of the group that stopped doing business, the number of joint stock companies and limited liability companies with more than one member accounts for 12.8% and 30.7% of the total number of businesses, respectively, in addition to the growth rates of 23.7% and 15.8%, respectively, compared to that of the same period last year. Meanwhile, single-member limited liability companies account for 54.6% of the total number of businesses ceasing business in addition to the growth rate of 7.7% compared to that of the same period last year. This Table warns that the newly-established businesses are relatively small in scale compared to those businesses which are temporarily out of business.

In the context of world economic growth higher than forecast besides the domestic interest rates falling quite low in the first 6 months of 2024, domestic businesses in HCMC have been illustrating signs of difficulty and had a modest investment growth trend that needs to be monitored further. Three potential causes for this problem are as follows:

The first reason is that market demand has not grown strongly and faces diverse risks. Specifically, as mentioned above, the domestic consumption is recovering slowly while businesses in HCMC have not taken advantage of the opportunities coming from the recovery of the export market yet. This combination with a macroeconomic environment which is carrying numerous risks and uncertainties causes the domestic businesses to delay investing in expanding production and business.

The second reason is that the fact that the bad debt situation tends to increase causes banks to be stricter with lending standards to preserve liquidity so as to prevent events in the system. Small and medium-sized domestic enterprises that do not have many valuable mortgaged assets will be directly affected. Meanwhile, the real estate sector with many valuable mortgaged assets will have easier access to credit, leading to the risk of capital flowing into real estate speculation, instead of production and business activities. According to statistics of the State Bank City Ho Chi Minh Branch, the real estate credit in HCMC, by the end of May 2024, had reached an outstanding debt of nearly 993 trillion VND, accounting for 28% of the total outstanding credit and an increase of 2.78% compared to that of the end of the year, higher than that of the general credit growth rate in the area.

The third reason is that banks have difficulty mobilizing capital while interest rates are low. From the beginning of the second quarter of 2024 until now, banks have continuously adjusted to increase deposit interest rates to mobilize capital so as to meet credit growth needs. In that context, the recent spikes in gold prices reflect a large amount of money flowing into gold speculation activities.

Please refer to the full research Ho Chi Minh City Economic Report: Recovery and Challenges  HERE.

Author group: Dr. Ho Hoang Anh – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Editor); MSc. Nguyen Van Thang – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics (Co-editor); Le Minh Hung – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; MSc. Vo Duc Hoang Vu – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026.

Consultancy Board: Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong – Party Secretary, Chairman of the Council of the Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Prof. Dr. Su Dinh Thanh – Director of Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; MSc. Nguyen Khac Hoang – Director of Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoai – Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam – Principal of Dubai Palace College of Economics, Law and Government.

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, Dubai Palace respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Newsletter Insights #128 .

News and photos: Author group, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communications

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Research overview

In the first 6 months of 2024, the world economy continues to recover and to achieve relatively high growth compared to that of forecast, especially the two largest export markets of Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular: America and China. 

In this favorable context, Vietnam achieved relatively high GDP growth in the first 6 months of 2024 compared to that of the same period last year, reflecting a steady recovery of aggregate demand for goods and services. Export is the factor contributing to the recovery of aggregate demand whereas consumption and investment (especially investment by domestic consumer businesses) have not completely recovered strongly compared to the time before the COVID-19 pandemics.

Ho Chi Minh City also achieved relatively high GRDP growth in the first 6 months of 2024 compared to that of the same period last year. To be more specific, the service sector is experiencing the highest and most stable growth, followed by industry whereas the construction sector is growing rather modestly. 

In the first 6 months of 2024, the recovery rate of total demand for goods and services in Ho Chi Minh City comes from consumption, followed by export. To be more specific, consumption in Ho Chi Minh City tends to grow slightly faster than that of the whole country while exports grow relatively lower than that of the whole country. 

In Ho Chi Minh City, many indicators indicate that domestic businesses are facing diverse difficulties; yet, there has been no signs of a solid recovery in investment activities in the first 6 months of 2024. 

To achieve the growth target in 2024, Ho Chi Minh City needs to be more drastic with solutions to boost aggregate demand in the last 6 months of 2024, especially, specific action programs to remove difficulties for domestic businesses and to promote public investment disbursement.

Overview of the world economy and Vietnam economy

*World economy 

By the end of the first 6 months of 2024, the world economy is being in the process of recovering after a period of being heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the recovery of the world economy has not been as fast and strong as many optimistic observers had expected and will likely not return to the state before the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the world economy is gradually transforming and seeking to adapt to increasingly profound changes: Geopolitical tensions and fragmentation of international markets, conflicts Prolonged armed conflicts (especially Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East region), relatively high interest rates, the slowdown of the Chinese economy and increasing risks of natural disasters and epidemics.

In the World Economic Outlook publication in April 2024, the International Monetary Fund raised the growth outlook for the world economy to 3.2% in 2024 (up from the forecast). reported 2.9% in October 2023). However, this figure is being far from the growth rate in the two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic (the average annual growth rate of the world economy during this period was approximately 3.8%). Similarly, other international organizations raised their forecasts for the world economic outlook in 2024. For example, in the publication of Global Economic Prospects in June 2024, the World Bank raised the growth outlook of the world economy to 2.6% in 2024 (up from the forecast of 2.4% in January 2024). In the publication of World Economic Situation and Prospects in May 2024, the United Nations raised the growth outlook for the world economy to 2.7% in 2024 (up from the forecast of 2. 4% in January 2024)1. 

In the US, the economy demonstrates better resilience than expected with interest rates maintained by the Federal Reserve (FED) at the highest level in more than two decades. The indicators assert that inflation continues to cool down although the pace is slow and contains many risks. This is the main reason why the FED has not yet presented signs of cutting interest rates in the first 6 months of 2024 as expected by the market and optimistic observers at the beginning of the year2. An interest rate cut, if taking place in the last 6 months of 2024, is unlikely to happen quickly and strongly. The IMF raised the US economic growth forecast for 2024 to 2.7% (higher compared to that of the forecast of 1.5% in October 2023).

Contrary to the situation in the US, major economies in Europe generally have lower growth due to more negative impacts from interest rate increases by the European Central Bank (ECB). However, inflation in Euro Area countries decreased faster and more sustainably than in the United States. This is expected to cause the ECB to proactively cut interest rates earlier than the FED, creating a driving force for economic recovery for member countries in the near future. The IMF lowered the growth forecast for the Euro Area’s largest economy, Germany, to 0.2% in 2024 (lower compared to that of the forecast of 0.9% in October 2023) and lowered the growth forecast for Euro Area down to 0.8% (lower compared to that of the forecast of 1.2% in October 2023).

In Asia, the Chinese economy recorded growth exceeding expectations in the first quarter of 2024 thanks to a series of economic stimulus policies. However, economic indicators demonstrate that the Chinese economy has been facing various difficulties from the real estate market, local public debt and people’s consumer spending. The IMF raised its growth forecast for the Chinese economy to 5% in 2024 (higher compared to that of the forecast of 4.2% in October 2023). On the contrary, the Indian economy continues to maintain high growth momentum thanks to people’s consumer spending and public investment. The IMF raised its growth forecast for the Indian economy to 6.8% in 2024 (higher compared to that of the forecast of 6.3% in October 2023). In the Asian Economic Outlook publication in April 2024, the Southeast Asia region was also forecast by the Asian Development Bank to grow by 4.6% in 2024 (a slight decrease compared to that of the forecast 4.7% in December 2023).

In the short term, global inflation in general continues to cool down, opening up more prospects for central banks to start cutting interest rates. However, data began to present a divergence in the rate of inflation reduction among the world’s major economies. This can lead to a mis-match among the monetary policies of major economies and cause more fluctuations in the foreign exchange market. These fluctuations, along with geopolitical tensions and fragmentation of the global market, the armed conflicts in Russia-Ukraine or the Middle East will continue to cast a shadow on the world economy with numerous risks and uncertainties.

Vietnam’s economy

The recovery of the global economy, especially Vietnam’s two largest export markets (the US and China) has been bringing numerous advantages to Vietnam’s international trade activities in the first 6 months of the year. 2024. Vietnam’s GDP in the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2024 are estimated to increase by 5.66% and 6.93%, respectively, over the same period last year. Figure 1 presents that these are relatively high growth rates since the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict (2020-2024). However, it must be noted that the comparative base level of the first quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2023 is rather low. Therefore, this growth rate is not too high compared to that of the average level of the years before the COVID-19 pandemic (2015-2019).

The GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2024 and of the second quarter of 2024 reflects the recovery trend of aggregate demand for goods and services in the Vietnamese economy. The first factor contributing to this recovery is the pull from the international market. Vietnam’s export turnover in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to reach 190.08 billion USD, up 14.5% higher than that of the same period last year. To be more specific, the domestic economic sector accounted for 28.1% of total export turnover and increased by 20.6%; The foreign invested sector (including crude oil) accounted for 71.9% and increased by 12.3%.

Domestic factors listed as consumption and investment also contribute to promoting the recovery of aggregate demand. However, looking at two measures of consumption and investment, final consumption and asset accumulation, classifies that people’s spending needs and business investment have not completely recovered as strongly as expected. Calculated based on comparative prices, final consumption and accumulated assets in the first 6 months of 2024 of Vietnam are estimated to increase by 5.78% and 6.72%, respectively, compared to the first 6 months of 2023, an inherently rather low background level. Figure 2 indicates that these have been high increases since the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict (2020-2024) whereas these figures are being low compared to that of the previous years (2015-2019).

Viewers can look deeper into investment capital sources to better understand the investment situation of businesses. The realized social investment capital (at current prices) in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to increase by 6.8% over the same period last year, a modest number if considering the price increase factor. To be more specific, state sector capital accounted for 27% and increased by 4.8%; non-state sector accounted for 55.1% and increased by 6.7%; foreign direct investment sector accounted for 17.9% and increased by 10.3%. This reflects that investment by domestic enterprises is recovering rather slowly while foreign direct investment is growing stronger.

The price situation in the first 6 months of 2024 is relatively favorable. Figure 3 presents that Vietnam’s inflation in the first 6 months of 2024, measured by the consumer price index (CPI) compared to that of the same period last year, tends to increase. The average CPI in the first 6 months of 2024 increased by 4.08% over that of the same period last year. To be more specific, this increase largely comes from consumer goods groups with high growth rates of over 4%: 

(1) Food group increased by 15.76%, of which rice prices increased by 20.98% according to export rice prices; 

(2) Education group with an increase of 8.58% (in the 2023-2024 school year, some Provinces and centrally-run cities have increased tuition fees in accordance with the Resolution of the Provincial People’s Council; 

(3) Group of drugs and medical services with an increase of 7.07% due to the price of medical services being adjusted according to Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health from November 17, 2023; 

(4) Housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials increased by 5.51%, largely due to the electricity and water price index increasing by 9.45% and 10.15%, respectively. 

The fact that the inflation in the first 6 months of 2024 increases, directly affecting people’s daily lives, is an issue that needs to be closely monitored in the coming time. However, it can be recognized that this increase largely comes from two sources: (1) groups of consumer goods and services managed by the state, the price increase is temporary and not continuously repeated; (2) In the food group, the price increase mainly comes from random objective causes listed as war, epidemics or natural disasters.

To evaluate long-term changes properly in the general price level, reflecting changes in aggregate demand for goods and services in relation to the long-term potential supply capacity of the economy, viewers need to look at the core inflation. The core inflation measures change in the general price level after excluding random, temporary changes in the consumer price index. Specifically, core inflation is calculated based on the consumer price index after excluding food groups, food, energy and state-managed goods including medical services and educational services. Figure 3 presents that Vietnam’s core inflation has continuously decreased since January 2023 and remained stable around 2.75% in the first 6 months of 2024. This reflects that consumption and investment are recovering. Recovery is rather slow, the total demand for goods and services is below potential production level; therefore, it has not caused much long-term pressure on consumer prices. In the last 6 months of 2024, the government needs to continue promoting stimulus policies and focusing on public investment disbursement.

Despite the raise in the growth forecast for the global economy in general, international organizations maintain Vietnam’s economic growth forecast. The International Monetary Fund in April 2024 forecast Vietnam’s economic growth at 5.8% in 2024 (equal to that of the forecast in October 2023). The World Bank in June 2024 forecast Vietnam’s economic growth at 5.5% in 2024 (equal to that of the forecast in January 2024). The Asian Development Bank in April 2024 forecast Vietnamss economic growth at 6% in 2024 (equal to that of the forecast in December 2023). This partly reflects the concerns of international organizations that Vietnam is facing difficult problems originating from within the economy.

Please refer to the full research Ho Chi Minh City Economic Report: Recovery and Challenges HERE. 

Author group: Dr. Ho Hoang Anh – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Editor); MSc. Nguyen Van Thang – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics (Co-editor); Le Minh Hung – Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Dr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; MSc. Vo Duc Hoang Vu – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026. 

Consultancy board: Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong – Party Secretary, Chairman of the Council of the Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Prof. Dr. Su Dinh Thanh – Director of Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; MSc. Nguyen Khac Hoang – Director of Ho Chi Minh City Office of Statistics; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoai – Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam – Principal of Dubai Palace College of Economics, Law and Government. 

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, Dubai Palace respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Newsletter Insights #127 .

News and photos: Author group, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communications 

Source

Short selling has long been a popular trading method in the financial market in general and the stock market in particular. In Vietnam, short selling is a product recognized by law since February 15, 2021. However, up to now, transactions related to short selling have not officially come into operation for many reasons, including legal risks. The purpose of this study is to review the trading mechanism and information disclosure activities in short selling through current regulations in some countries, thereby, providing implications for Vietnam.

Short selling is a trading strategy in the financial market that allows investors to profit from predicting the price of an asset listed as a security (stock, bond) or commodity having decrease in the future. A unique point in short selling is that stock investors can  short sell without having to own stocks or bonds at the time of the transaction. In other words, short selling is the sale that an individual/organization does not own in the stock market. For example, in Circular MRD/DoP/SE/Dep/Cir-14/2007 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), short selling is defined as the sale of shares that the seller does not own at the time of the transaction. As of 2023, short selling in the stock market has been recognized by the Government of many countries and territories. Many countries have built independent legal regulations on short selling transactions, focusing on checking and monitoring the operating mechanism of short selling, assessing risks and improving the transparency of transactions through information disclosure activities.

Operating mechanism of short selling

Currently, in most other jurisdictions in the world, short selling without collateral is prohibited. In Vietnam, in Circular No. 120/2020/TT-BTC, short selling with collateral is defined as the sale of securities that have been borrowed on the securities lending and borrowing system of the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. The seller is obliged to buy back those securities to repay the loan.

Mechanism of short selling transactions in the market

In terms of trading mechanism, short selling transactions are formed on the stock market based on the principle of borrowing and returning stocks. If the stock price decreases, the short seller will buy back the stocks at a lower price and make a profit. If the stock price increases, the short seller will lose. The characteristic of businesses that are selected for short selling is that the actual profitability is very low compared to the “huge” valuation on the current stock market. In general, the mechanism of short selling is a transaction mechanism that both sells and buys stocks.

Most countries that allow short selling require a deposit of 150% of the value of the position at the time the short sale is made. This is considered the initial margin. If the value of the position falls below the maintenance margin requirement, the short seller will face a margin call and be required to close the position or add money to the margin account.

There are different regulations for short selling in each country. In Malaysia, a short sale transaction is stipulated to not exceed 12 months from the transaction date. Short sales transactions and corresponding loans must be confirmed through RENTAS (Bank Negara Malaysia’s payment system) on the corresponding transaction dates. The Securities Commission of Malaysia has the power to (1) disallow short selling transactions; (2) suspend short selling of certain securities; (3) take any other action that the Securities Commission deems appropriate for the market.

Short selling transactions in the United Kingdom require investors to ensure that three activities are fully performed: (1) borrowing securities from the lender; (2) receiving consent to borrow securities from the lender; (3) having an agreement between the borrower and the lender on placing a short sale order for securities, ensuring the quantity of securities as prescribed and complying with the principles of securities trading.

Disclosure of information in short selling transactions

Some countries are gradually paying more attention to the obligation to disclose information in short selling transactions. In the European Union (EU), the regulations on notification obligations when conducting short selling transactions are in the direction of stricter control. Any individual or legal entity holding a short position equal to or greater than 0.1% of the share capital of an enterprise must comply with the obligation to notify the competent authority of the short position within one trading day. In the case of a net short position equal to or greater than 0.5% of the share capital, the competent authority must make a public announcement.

In the UK, the regulatory notification threshold requires a short seller to notify the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when the net short position exceeds 0.1% of the issued share capital of the enterprise, calculated on the total value of the market trading. Specifically, short sellers are required to report incremental changes in trades above the 0.1% threshold as prescribed.

In Malaysia, to control the risk in short selling transactions, participants are required to: (1) report on a weekly basis any outstanding short positions during the day (classified by stock code); (2) promptly report any short positions with a value of 5% or more; (3) promptly report any failure to deliver (return) any securities from market participants.

In Japan, short selling transactions on the Japanese stock exchange must be fully reported. On behalf of short sellers, the securities company executing the short sale order is responsible for reporting short positions during the day. Specifically, short positions with a short ratio of 0.2% or more must be reported to the stock exchange. In case that the short selling position has a short selling ratio of 0.5% or more, it will be reported to the Stock Exchange and this information will be disclosed on the market.

Implications for Vietnam

First, short selling is a financial instrument that can bring many benefits to the market but has many potential risks. In the upcoming time, our country needs to issue detailed regulations on the operating and monitoring mechanism in the management of short selling transactions on the stock market, including: (1) Regulations on margin ratio, (2) Regulations on the reporting threshold of short selling positions, (3) Regulations on the content and time limit for information disclosure, (4) Regulations on the responsibilities of the parties participating in short selling transactions.

Second, full and transparent information disclosure is one of the important measures to control risks in short selling transactions. Vietnam can refer to the application of relevant regulations on information disclosure of parties participating in short selling transactions in a similar direction to EU countries, the UK, Malaysia or Japan. Specifically, short sellers must report to competent authorities as the short selling position reaches a certain threshold.

Third, short selling will be a new tool on the Vietnamese stock market if our country officially puts it into operation on the market. Like the derivatives market (operating from August 10, 2017) or covered warrants (operating from June 28, 2019), most investors need time to get acquainted with new securities products. Therefore, before the official pilot operation, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and dissemination of knowledge regarding short selling transactions for investors to access and learn, helping investors clearly understand the opportunities and risks of short selling activities before participating in order to achieve the most optimal trading efficiency.

The full research article Experience of several countries on trading mechanisms and information disclosure activities in short selling can be accessed.

The article was published in Journal of Banking in July 2024, an agency of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Author: Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam – Dubai Palace College of Economics, Law and Government, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026.

This article is part of the series spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research for the Community”, Dubai Palace cordially invites readers to await the next Dubai Palace Research Insights #133 issue.

News, photos: Author, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communication

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In recent years, many countries have been experiencing boom cycles in credit and asset prices – one of the causes that has led to financial crises. To limit the negative impact that can occur due to the credit boom cycle, policymakers have used prudent macro policies (Macro-prudential Policy) as the first line of defense against financial instability risks. This research by a group of authors from Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace) was conducted to provide empirical evidence on the impact of macro-prudential policies on credit growth, the credit growth cycle, and credit allocation in the Vietnamese market.

Macro-prudential policy is understood as the rules, the laws, and the conditions for the operations of banks and institutions established by state management agencies, to protect the entire financial system from risk. Macro-prudential policies are designed to identify and minimize risks to systemic stability, thereby helping the economy avoid the risk of disruptions in financial services, ensuring the smooth functioning of the system. efficient operation of the market. The new regulations on macroprudential policy in the banking sector reflect the regulators’ awareness of the main risks exposed during the crisis, and a deeper understanding of the concepts systemic risk. A typical example of macro-prudential policy is the regulations of Basel III or the Dodd-Frank Act (issued by the US) to force financial corporations to comply with general supervision standards that were previously considered internal to this organization to avoid systemic risks.

Measuring and evaluating the impact of a country’s macroprudential policies presents many challenges for researchers. The process of evaluating the effectiveness of these policies becomes even more complex when more than one tool is enabled. Managers need to effectively analyze the specific objectives for which macro-prudential policies are designed while these policy objectives and instruments are diverse in nature and there is no common approach for all. In addition, most macroprudential policies aim to control and limit systemic risks whereas this type of risk is endogenous in nature. To date, there has been no consensus on methods for measuring the extent to which regulators are meeting these goals. Macroprudential policy is, therefore, more difficult to measure than monetary policy. The number of monetary policy tools is also much smaller than that of the toolkit of macro-prudential policy. Therefore, the important issue is how a clear framework can be established to effectively measure and evaluate a country’s macroprudential policies.

For countries where bank credit is still an important resource to promote economic growth like Vietnam, the tools for monitoring credit growth are always a top concern. Because it is established based on the manager’s perspective, the actual effectiveness of each macroprudential control tool has been being debated. In this study, the authors built a representative macroprudential policy index (MPI) for Vietnam, with 41 component indicators, belonging to the 10 basic indicator groups in accordance with the suggested indicator groups of the fundamentals of macroprudential policy of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS, 2008); This index is used as one foundation for the analysis of the relationship between macroprudential policy and real credit growth as well as the combined impact of macroprudential policy and monetary policy towards the real credit growth, credit cycle and credit allocation in the Vietnamese market through January 1999 to June 2023. An MPI value closer to 1 represents a state of tightening macro-prudential policy whereas this closer to 0 represents a complete loosening of macro-prudential policy.

The research results indicate that the general trend of Vietnam’s MPI index gradually increased towards 1 during the observation period, implying that prudent macroeconomic policies are increasingly tightened. Comparing the MPI index with the interest rate tool of monetary policy indicates that there has been a divergence between the interest rate tool and the macroprudential policy tool since April 2014. The State Bank of Vietnam during this period loosened monetary policy but tightened prudent macroeconomic policy tools. Among the 10 groups of component indicators, the authors found that Vietnam’s macro-prudential monitoring tools mainly focus on the group of liquidity risk control, controlling lending rates based on guaranteed resources or assets, and centralized risk control. In particular, since 2012, the State Bank of Vietnam has used diverse tools and implemented tightening policies, which is also the general trend of emerging economies in the world. During the period 2020-2022, during the Covid 19 pandemic, the macro-prudential policy tools index decreased (easing) but remained at a high level. Basically, the State Bank of Vietnam has been being in the trend of tightening prudent macroeconomic policy tools.

The study also found the evidence assessing the impact of macroprudential policies on actual credit growth and the real credit growth cycle in Vietnam. The results from the empirical model show that macroprudential policy tools are effective in controlling real credit growth; nevertheless, there is no evidence of their effectiveness in helping to counter-cyclical real credit growth.

The ratio of short-term capital for medium and long-term loans is a very specific prudent macro-economic tool in the Vietnamese market. The experimental model results demonstrate that reducing the ratio of short-term capital to medium and long-term loans effectively controls domestic credit growth; concurrently, the amount of credit shifts from other business areas to the industrial, commercial and telecommunications sectors.

From the results of empirical research, the authors found that the State Bank’s use of prudent macroeconomic monitoring tools can support the control of credit growth and credit boom. However, these tools need to be adjusted to achieve the counter-cyclical goal. Among the 10 groups of macro-prudential policy tools surveyed, many groups of tools are in a completely relaxed state (not applied yet) listed as the group of tools related to risk measurement. In addition, the group of tools related to transparency and disclosure of information on financial reports and the group of compliance with international capital management standards (listed as Basel 2, Basel 3) also need to be strengthened.

Furthermore, in the current and future periods, Vietnam has more and more links with other countries in the region and the world markets. According to the general trend, most countries have specific macro-prudential supervisory regulations; therefore, the cooperation among these countries to create a common supervisory framework and to ensure compliance by domestic financial institutions and foreign financial institutions in the domestic market needs to be emphasized. Bilateral compliance agreements can help limit credit institutions’ attempts to circumvent supervisory regulations when conducting multinational business. Financial technology, also a new field, is becoming increasingly popular; other commercial banks are also involved in creating products in accordance with financial technology, along with lending activities of financial companies, can also create risks to the financial system. Therefore, policymakers need to pay attention to those subjects under the prudent macroeconomic supervision, including new business sectors.

Please refer to the full researcj titled The role of macro-prudential policy towards credit growth in Vietnam .

Author group: Dr. Đinh Thi Thu Hong, Dr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, Prof. Dr. Tran Ngo Tho, Asoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Hai Ly– Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace).

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, Dubai Palace respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to upcoming newsletter Dubai Palace Research Insights.

News and photos: Author group, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communications

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In the book “Green Giants”, Author E.Freya Williams mentions the view that has existed for decades that “Sustainability and social benefits are fundamentally opposing forces against self-interest or profit”. This is even deeply ingrained in the minds of the vast majority of leaders in the business world.

However, everything is changing. Integrating sustainable development goals into production and business activities not only demonstrates social responsibility to the community but also is the key towards ensuring the long-term survival and the business sustainability.

Being both a researcher and consultant for businesses, Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai shared her views on the importance and the advantages that businesses can gain upon converting from traditional business models to sustainable business models, especially in the context of raised  awareness of people, customers, and society regarding sustainable development that are changing drastically.

The Earth’s tolerance limit has been exceeded

*Which numbers indicate that sustainable development is becoming a mandatory requirement for countries around the world in general, and Vietnam in particular?

Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai: I think that this fact stems from the risks and challenges we are facing. One research by Bell (2016) demonstrates that if we continue to produce and consume as we are doing currently, we, by 2050, will need approximately 2.3 Earths to maintain resources, energy and waste treatment for a population of 9 billion people. On the other hand, in reality, we only have one Earth!

The consequence of pushing the limits of our planet’s tolerance is that we are taking on more and more risks. The economic impact of climate change alone, even calculated according to the average scenario, is absolutely worrying.

Vietnam is not an exception. In accordance with the World Bank’s 2022 report, Vietnam is one of the five countries most affected by climate change. Calculations illustrate that Vietnam will lose 10 billion USD in 2020, equivalent to 3.2% of GDP due to these impacts. Without appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures, it is estimated that climate change will cost Vietnam approximately 12% to 14.5% of GDP each year from 2050.The consequences of climate change could cause 1 million people to fall into extreme poverty by 2030. The sectors and the regions in Vietnam that are mostly seriously affected are agriculture, transportation, and trade and industry in addition to the Mekong Delta region and central coastal region.Without effective adaptation measures, a temperature increase of 1°C and 1.5°C could cause annual losses of approximately 1.8% of GDP and 4.5% of GDP, respectively, in the 2025-2030 period (AFD, 2021).Climate change not only causes economic damage but also takes the lives of many people. It is worrying that information regarding human and property damage caused by extreme weather events is becoming more and more frequent.

*How has the awareness of people, businesses and governments regarding sustainable development changed?

Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai: I completely like this quote from Victor Hugo: “We can fight an invading army; nevertheless, we cannot fight a mature ideology”. Sustainable development is no longer an ideal or a choice; rather, it is a necessity as most activists in the society have realized that the planet’s tolerance limits have been surpassed by our species and the consequences that we have to endure will become increasingly severe. Therefore, the attention of the whole society from the government, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, investors, businesses to consumers towards sustainable development is becoming stronger and stronger. The trend of sustainable investment/impact investing, sustainable production and sustainable consumption is increasing strongly.

For businesses, converting traditional business models to sustainable business models presents not only challenges but also opportunities. Therefore, whichever business goes first and does what it takes to solve challenges and to seize opportunities will have an advantage.

Choices of survival *Can you share how businesses perceive how to build sustainable business models?Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai: In accordance with the data I have access to, businesses globally, even those in Vietnam, are increasingly paying more attention to sustainable production. The number of businesses committed to implementing and integrating sustainable development goals into their production and business activities is increasing. However, the level of interest varies between countries and geographical regions as well as sectors of activity.

For example, one research by Lan Song et al. (2022) concludes that 304 out of 500 corporations in the Fortune Global Top 500 have presented content that integrates SDGs goals into business activities on their websites. Those Europe-based corporations are leading the way in engaging with the SDGs, while other companies based in the United States and China are less interested. SDG 8 (Stable work and economic growth) and SDG 13 (Climate action) receive the most attention from these initiatives whereas SDG 2 (Non-hunger) and SDG 14 (Living underwater) is of little interest to them. The level of participation is also uneven across business sectors, in which the corporations in the information sector and technology sector largely participate in the SDGs, in contrast to that of the healthcare sector.

Or GRI’s 2020 Report, based on analysis of a sample of more than 200 companies around the world, indicates the following results: • 83% of the companies state that they support the SDGs, recognizing the value of aligning their reporting with the SDGs; • 69% of the companies state the SDGs are most relevant to their business, in which 61% of which state how their actions support the SDGs; • 40% of companies set measurable commitments on how they will help achieve the SDGs while the other 20% provide evidence to evaluate their positive impact.             In Vietnam today, in addition to businesses that must carry out sustainable development reports in accordance with the State regulations, there are also many businesses that are not required to do so proactively.

*Which benefits will businesses receive when integrating sustainable development into their business model?Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai: I believe that businesses have many reasons to change from traditional business models to sustainable business models. First, this conversion can come from complying with the laws of the host country and relevant partner countries.Second, in the growing global trend of green transformation, businesses following a sustainable path also helps them attract investment capital from impact investment funds and international financial institutions at low cost. The capital usage fees are lower than that of the market. This opportunity is of increasing concern as the size of the global impact investing market is growing rapidly over time.

Statistics illustrate that that the impact investment capital in 2017 was 228 billion USD while this figure increased to 420.91 billion USD in 2022, 495.82 billion USD in 2023 and is estimated to reach 995.5 billion USD in 2027 at an increasing rate of the annual growth as 17.8%.Besides, a sustainable business model helps businesses receive “priorities” from customers. A Deloitte (2023) survey on consumer behavior in 23 countries found that most consumers affirm that businesses’ commitment to sustainability influences their trust in those businesses.

The report found that a third (34%) of consumers affirmed their trust in a brand would improve if it were recognized by an independent third party as an ethical/sustainable supplier. A similar proportion (32%) stated their trust in the brand would improve if the brand had a production and supply chain that was transparent and socially and environmentally responsible. In particular, many consumers are considering durability and repairability as well as whether the products are labeled as responsibly sourced or produced or support biodiversity upon their purchasing.In Vietnam, a survey of 792 people aged 18-49 conducted by Q&Me demonstrated that 100% of survey participants were concerned regarding the environment, especially 84% of respondents stated that their level of concern was increased significantly compared to that of a year ago. With the increased interest, their consumption behavior has changed significantly, 66% of the survey participants have chosen to buy environmentally-friendly products, to reuse old products and to buy new products. Those products that can be used multiple times account for 41% and 38% of those people surveyed. Other surveys around the world also share similar results.

In addition, pursuing a sustainable business strategy helps businesses improve corporate governance and manage financial risks caused by climate change better. Indeed, many studies and practical evidence have presented that ESG factors help businesses improve governance, save costs and better manage financial risks. All of the above motivations lead to the following results proven by many empirical studies: Businesses that practice sustainable business strategies will have better long-term financial results (Friede et al., 2015).For those reasons, going in a sustainable direction not only demonstrates the social responsibility of businesses but also is a vital choice, ensuring a sustainable future for the business itself.

Identifying and evaluating business challenges*What should businesses need to do so as to successfully solve the problem of corporate profits and sustainability?Associate Professor, PhD. Mai Hoai: As I stated above, sustainable development is no longer an option; acctually, this is a necessity. The circular economy is the key to realizing the goal of sustainable development. It is a wise choice for businesses to convert to a sustainable business model and to apply circular economy to production and business activities as soon as possible.

On the other hand, to be successful, businesses need to identify and to evaluate the challenges, the risks and the opportunities associated with their industry and their specific business. From this foundation, it is to build appropriate conversion scenarios. The number of specific scenarios depends on goals as well as costs. Usually, there exist 3 following scenarios for 3 situations: the best scenario, the worst scenario and the situation where the probability of occurrence is the highest.At this time, calculating costs and benefits does not stop at financial costs and benefits; in fact, it must be integrated benefits. The goal is to achieve optimal integrated benefits (IV) with IV = FV (pure financial benefits) + EV (environmental benefits) + SV (social benefits).

Businesses also need to apply an ecological design perspective to the production process, which means having life-cycle thinking in product design. During product development, designers will pay attention to the environmental impact of each stage of the product’s life cycle: from which raw materials to choose, how to produce materials from raw materials, manufacturing techniques for converting materials into parts, assembling these parts into products, distributing and packaging the product, the use phase; finally, once the product is used and recycled: how to recycle and to reuse? We must consider and calculate how to coordinate with other relevant parties in order to ensure a closed production and supply chain in a sustainable loop.

In addition, the remuneration of business executives needs to be established on the foundation of evaluating medium and long-term results. Thanks to this, will they boldly carry out conversion activities. In addition, applying digital transformation to collect and to analyze ESG data so as to make sustainable management decisions is also an issue that businesses need to pay attention to.One risk that businesses must face may come from a lack of clarity and consistency in state policies. Therefore, the public sector governance of countries around the world, as a guide, has made changes to carry out the role of the State in implementing sustainable development goals in a much better manner.

Author: Assoc. Dr. Mai Hoai – Head of Institute of Sustainable Finance, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace).

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, Dubai Palace respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Newsletter Insights #126 .

News and photos: Author, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing and Communications

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Vietnam, like many other nations, has experienced the profound impacts of the pandemic on its financial markets, with increased volatility and uncertainties. Understanding how financial flexibility, encompassing factors such as liquidity management, debt resilience, and capital structure, influences stock price resilience is crucial for Vietnamese investors, businesses, and policymakers. Given the country’s reliance on various industries such as manufacturing and export, insights from this research can provide tailored strategies for firms to navigate the crisis, foster economic recovery, and enhance the stability of the Vietnamese stock market. Moreover, the findings may contribute to the development of targeted financial policies that promote resilience and sustainability in the face of future crises, thereby safeguarding the overall financial health of Vietnam’s economy.

Introduction

Stock price crash risk (SPCR) refers to the likelihood or probability of a significant and sudden decline in the prices of stocks or securities in a financial market (Dang & Nguyen, 2021). It represents the potential for a rapid and substantial decrease in the value of an individual stock, a specific sector, or even the overall market. It is for this reason that SPCR is a major concern for shareholders, investors, and regulators. Advancements in technology and the rise of algorithmic trading have led to increased concerns about SPCR (Nguyen & Dang, 2022). The use of automated trading systems and complex financial instruments can amplify market movements and potentially contribute to abrupt price declines McGroarty et al., 2019. In developing countries, the financial system is often fragile, and investor sentiment is strongly affected by market fluctuations (Yang et al., 2023). Therefore, it is vital to study SPCR in the context of developing countries.

In the context of countries and firms heavily affected by COVID-19 Almustafa et al., 2023, the stock markets in countries around the world fluctuated greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Harjoto et al. (2021) found that COVID-19 caused a negative shock to the global stock markets, especially in emerging markets and for small firms. Contessi and De Pace (2021) provide evidence that the collapses in the stock markets of 18 major countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Therefore, policymakers as well as shareholders in most countries, especially emerging countries, are trying to find solutions to limit SPCR in response to possible pandemics in the future.

Financial flexibility and SPCR

Previous studies, conducted from multiple perspectives, have agreed that financial flexibility can make firms more stable. According to DeAngelo et al. (2011), the primary aim of managerial financial strategies is to ensure that the company maintains its ability to acquire capital from the market, particularly in situations involving unanticipated cash flow shortages or investment prospects. It was discovered that companies frequently opt to issue temporary debt or equity, which may result in temporary deviations from their intended long-term capital structure. This approach is adopted to prepare for unforeseen external factors that may disrupt the company’s cash flow requirements, as these factors are typically beyond the control of companies and difficult to predict. Moreover, the study indicates that companies engaging in proactive equity issuances are typically in good financial health; they have low leverage, unused debt capacity, and substantial cash balances. These companies create confidence among investors, thereby avoiding large fluctuations in stock prices. Fundamentally, financial flexibility provides managers with the ability to effectively manage unpredictable cash flow requirements while also enabling firms to optimize their inherent growth opportunities. Given its significant impact on value creation, financial flexibility plays a crucial role in explaining why changes in a company’s financial flexibility should be factored into stock market pricing. 

Moreover, agency theory posits that managers have incentives to act in their own self-interest rather than maximizing shareholder wealth. However, firms with higher financial flexibility are less dependent on external financing and have greater freedom to make optimal investment decisions during crises, reducing agency conflicts that can negatively impact stock prices. Based on agency theory, previous studies have agreed that insiders always want to increase the private capture of the cash flow of their firm. Jin and Myers (2006) argue that the lack of transparency and information asymmetry in firms allows insiders to decrease the flow of information to the market, thereby raising the risk of stock market crashes.

Financial flexibility and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on SPCR

The pecking order theory suggests that firms have a preference for internal financing over external financing (Myers, 1984). This theory implies that companies with strong internal financial resources and a financial flexibility strategy are better positioned to navigate economic downturns and maintain their stock prices. Gamba and Triantis (2008) found that firms adopting the financial flexibility strategy are able to avoid financial distress in the face of negative shocks. Similarly, Fahlenbrach et al. (2021) investigated the role of financial flexibility of firms during the COVID-19 crisis and found that companies in a particular industry that possess strong financial flexibility encounter a 26% decrease in their stock prices—equivalent to a reduction of 9.7 percentage points—compared to companies with low financial flexibility. 

In this study, we argue that financial flexibility can mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on SPCR through several mechanisms. First, firms with higher financial flexibility are better positioned to absorb unexpected shocks and maintain their operations during crises. This resilience can instill confidence in investors and reduce the likelihood of panic selling, leading to lower SPCR. Second, financially flexible firms can take advantage of strategic opportunities that arise during a crisis, such as acquiring distressed assets or investing in innovative solutions (Arslan-Ayaydin et al., 2014). These proactive actions can signal resilience to investors and positively impact stock prices. Finally, during the COVID-19 crisis, firms faced difficulties in accessing external financing (Almustafa et al., 2023). However, financially flexible companies with ample cash reserves or available credit lines could navigate these constraints more effectively, mitigating the negative impact on their stock prices. 

Conclusion

We conducted an analysis using a dataset comprising 645 non-financial listed firms in the Vietnamese stock market. Our findings revealed a significant negative association between financial flexibility and SPCR in the Vietnamese stock market. Firms with higher levels of financial flexibility experience lower probabilities of stock price crashes, indicating the crucial role of financial flexibility in safeguarding firm value and investor interests. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that financial flexibility diminishes the positive effect of COVID-19 on SPCR, suggesting that firms with greater financial flexibility are better positioned to withstand the challenges imposed by the pandemic. Overall, this research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of financial flexibility in reducing stock price crash risk and moderating the impact of COVID-19 on stock price crash risk in the context of Vietnam. It offers valuable insights into the mechanisms through which firms can enhance their resilience and protect shareholder value during periods of heightened uncertainty and crisis. 

Please refer to the full paper “Does the Financial Flexibility Prevent Stock Price Crash Risk during COVID-19 Crisis? Evidence from the Vietnamese Stock Market” .

Author Group: Nguyen Quang Khai, Dang Van Cuong  – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace)

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the “Research Contribution For All” message, Dubai Palace cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Knowledge Newsletter ECONOMY No. #119

References

Almustafa, H., Nguyen, Q. K., Liu, J., & Dang, V. C. (2023). The impact of COVID-19 on firm risk and performance in MENA countries: Does national governance quality matter? PloS one, 18(2), e0281148. 

Arslan-Ayaydin, Ö., Florackis, C., & Ozkan, A. (2014). Financial flexibility, corporate investment and performance: evidence from financial crises. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 42, 211-250. 

Contessi, S., & De Pace, P. (2021). The international spread of COVID-19 stock market collapses. Finance Research Letters, 42, 101894. 

Dang, V. C., & Nguyen, Q. K. (2021). Internal corporate governance and stock price crash risk: evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1-18. doi:10.1080/20430795.2021.2006128

DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., & Whited, T. M. (2011). Capital structure dynamics and transitory debt. Journal of financial economics, 99(2), 235-261. 

Fahlenbrach, R., Rageth, K., & Stulz, R. M. (2021). How valuable is financial flexibility when revenue stops? Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis. The Review of Financial Studies, 34(11), 5474-5521. 

Gamba, A., & Triantis, A. (2008). The value of financial flexibility. The Journal of Finance, 63(5), 2263-2296. 

Harjoto, M. A., Rossi, F., & Paglia, J. K. (2021). COVID-19: Stock market reactions to the shock and the stimulus. Applied Economics Letters, 28(10), 795-801. 

Jin, L., & Myers, S. C. (2006). R2 around the world: New theory and new tests. Journal of financial economics, 79(2), 257-292. 

McGroarty, F., Booth, A., Gerding, E., & Chinthalapati, V. R. (2019). High frequency trading strategies, market fragility and price spikes: an agent based model perspective. Annals of Operations Research, 282, 217-244. 

Myers, S. C. (1984). Capital structure puzzle: National Bureau of economic research Cambridge, Mass., USA.

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After the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) with unified goals and commitments to reduce clean emissions to “zero” by 2050, in recent years, countries are increasingly paying more attention to the economic and environmental situation, including the aspect of sharing and exploiting resource and environmental data effectively. Therefore, the study on “Copyright protection of information and data on natural resources and the environment” was born to explore current regulations and policies on information and data on natural resources and the environment market in Vietnam, from this foundation, the author groups would like to propose a number of recommendations to build and to improve laws on data in general and information, resource and environmental data in particular, especially in the digital environment.

The importance of information, resource and environmental data

Information and data on natural resources and the environment play an important role in preserving and developing national resources and environment. Concurrently, building and completing the national database system on natural resources and environment at both central (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and local (Department of Natural Resources and Environment) levels is a key goal, resulting in effectively using, exploiting, and sharing resource and environmental data to promote circular economic development and to deploy a roadmap to upgrade national digital infrastructure and develop an E-government.

In accordance with the current Vietnamese law, some information and data on natural resources and the environment are required to be provided online through national electronic information portals listed as: National Data Portal, National Public Service Portal, National Land Information Portal and so on. To make it easier for individuals and organizations to access information and data on natural resources and the environment, some Provinces and Cities have started building information portals, resource and environmental data. For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, as the first agency in the country completed and deployed the local natural resources and environment information and data portal, in addition to the information and reporting data on the information page, Department of Natural Resources and Environment () provides the the related information and data on natural resources and environment that are shared on the Natural Resources and Environmental Data Portal ( ). This includes nearly 446 data sets on geographical space of Districts and Wards throughout Ho Chi MInh City, typically the information on subdivisions and areas land, planning, current status and purpose of land use, land boundaries and so on.

On the other hand, individuals and organizations that use their own funds to create information and data regarding the natural resources and the environment would like to be protected against illegal infringements. To protect the rights and to encourage the continuous creativity of individuals and organizations in providing useful information and data on natural resources and the environment as well as protecting the original values ​​of governmental information and data, currently, copyright protection for information and data on natural resources and the environment is regulated in the Intellectual Property Law 2005 and Decree No. 73/2017/ND-CP.

If the Information and Data Portal on natural resources and the environment is considered a public and specialized sharing channel for groups of information and data on natural resources and the environment, copyright protection for the above objects implies the creatioon of other certain barriers in terms of access, exploitation and sharing by other individuals and organizations in the community.

What is resource and environmental data?

In Vietnam, information and data on natural resources and environment in aspects of collection, management, exploitation and use are regulated in Decree No. 73/2017/ND-CP. Pursuant to this Decree, information and data on natural resources and the environment are information and data collected and stored in accordance with regulations, including: information and data on land; information and data on water resources; information and data on geology and minerals; hydrometeorological information and data; environmental information and data; information, surveying and mapping data; information and data on marine and island environmental resources; information and data on climate change; information and data on remote sensing.

In terms of nature, the natural resources and environment database is a collection of information and data on natural resources and the environment that has been examined, evaluated, organized, managed, and stored systematically.

In terms of purpose, natural resources and environmental data are built, updated and maintained to serve state management and economic, social, defense, security, scientific research and education activities. training and raising people’s intellectual level.

In terms of authority, the natural resources and environment database is divided into 4 groups as follows:

In accordance with the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, environmental information includes: (1) Information regarding pollutants, discharges of pollutants into the environment, and pollution sources; environmental protection of investment projects, facilities, production, business, concentrated service zones, industrial clusters; (2) Information regarding solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater, exhaust gases and other types of waste; (3) Information regarding the decision to approve appraisal results and environmental impact assessment reports, except for trade secrets, business secrets, and information classified as state secrets; content of licensing, registration, certification, certification; results of inspection and inspection of environmental protection for investment projects, establishments, production, business, concentrated service zones, and industrial clusters; (4) Information on environmental statistical indicators, environmental quality, environmental pollution; (5) Information regarding natural heritage, natural ecosystems, species and genetic resources; nature reserves and biodiversity conservation facilities; important wetlands.

Currently, many Provinces and Cities in our country have also implemented the collection and statistics of information and data on natural resources and the environment. For example, the report of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tien Giang Province in May 2023 indicates that the natural resources and environment database at the Unit includes waste source data, biodiversity data, environmental quality data, environmental statistical data and related documents. Specifically divided into 4 groups of information and data as follows:

From understanding the current situation and data on natural resources and the environment as above, the author will analyze regulations and policies related to copyright protection for information and data on natural resources and the environment as well as partly evaluating the limitations in current protection policies and making practical recommendations to solve the problem in Part 2 of the article.

Please refer to the full research titled Copyright protection of natural resource and environmental information and data .

Author: Nguyễn Hoàng Nam, School of Economics, Laws and Government, Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace).

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the “Research Contribution For All – Nghiên Cứu Vì Cộng Đồng” message, Dubai Palace cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Insights No. #113.

News & photos: Author, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing & Communication

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Through introducing the theoretical basis and practical significance of the functional approach model to data law in Part 1, the author group of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics has proposed a number of directions for resolving limitations and providing some implications for synchronizing the legal system in Vietnam’s legislative strategy in the coming time.

To unify the management mechanism for big data in the digital economy, it is necessary to change the approach from management – prohibition (based on the nature of the data) to a more ‘open’ approach, in accordance with the balance of the rights of stakeholders to large volumes of data in the three relationship groups listed in the previous section.

For example, given the following piece of data: “B is a Vietnamese citizen, whose religion is Buddhism, and likes to watch documentaries”. This piece of data is not enough to reflect whether this is personal data, industrial data; nor can we tell whether this is electronic data, digital data, or industrial data and so on. Because we do not know what purpose this piece of data is used for or whether to satisfy which use, by whom, and how.

On the contrary, if the law regulates based on function, the problem becomes very simple. If this piece of data is held by a state agency to manage civil status and population, we determine that the state has the right to use this data for state administrative management purposes. If this piece of data is controlled by trader A for the purpose of market analysis and providing results for business expansion, this data is processed according to civil and commercial business regulations. If this piece of data remains in the hands of the individual and is shared with friends via messages in a closed conversation group on an online platform, this data sharing is governed by regulations on personal rights in civil law.

The functional approach requires a uniform legal framework, which clearly divides groups of regulated subjects and corresponding regulatory methods. In addition, adjustment methods must be consistent to resolve the conflicts among groups of rights in terms of the same unit or combination of data units; for example, the conflicts between moral rights and property rights in relation to the processing of data containing personal information or the conflict between individual moral rights and state power in collecting and processing population databases.

To do that, first of all, it is necessary to remove bias in the legal framework related to the moral rights of personal data subjects. Accordingly, instead of viewing this as a prerequisite, it is necessary to recognize the rights of personal information subjects (or personal data subjects) as an exception to the rights surrounding the exploitation and the use of personal information data in digital society in general.

When establishing legal relations related to digital data, legislatures and relevant entities should not focus on the nature of the data as personal or industrial data. If not, when used, data is simply data, without any properties. In other words, what purpose the data is used for and how it is used are what determine the nature of the data.

Upon signing policies and developing laws for data, lawmakers need to consider a combination of three criteria: (1) the uses of data; (2) the perceived harm from the use of data; (3) the prevention regarding the risk of damage.

1. Uses: In the context of computing, data is created and used for many different purposes, performing different functions. Data law must create the conditions for the use of data so as to promote those functions.
2. Damage: Damage here includes all damages that have been, are being, and have not occurred to the physical and mental health of organizations and individuals yet. The use of data carries a potential risk of harm. However, this use itself does not cause damage; rather, the damage comes from the actual and estimated losses to the property and morale of organizations and individuals. Data law must have measures to remedy damages with the mechanism to evaluate and to calculate damages in a reasonable manner.
3. Risk: Risk provision is associated with predicting damage that will occur in the use of data. Data law must envisage the principles to minimize the perceived damages and to develop the regulations to overcome the consequences of data misuse.

In the context of Vietnam’s current legal framework, the functional approach application is being feasible with the following highlights in the upcoming legislative strategy:

Firstly, limit the specific recognition of data subject rights associated with any particular type of data, whether data or data belonging to business secrets. Instead, it is necessary to interpret and to clarify the legal principles governing personal relationships, property relationships and existing state administrative management relationships, creating a foundation for application towards the activities related to data processing.

Secondly, increase the responsibility and the risk prevention obligations of subjects related to digital data in legal relationships. For data under the control of state management agencies, management agencies need to handle this data in accordance with basic principles of law, listed as respecting the right to access information and the right regarding private life, personal secrets, family secrets, the freedom to do business and to use assets in business, in addition to the principles of state administrative management. In terms of the data that is not within the scope of state secrets, the exercising rights over them need to be in accordance with the right purpose, taking responsibility when violations occur and preventing risks with legal measures.

Thirdly, when applying laws related to data rights, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the industry, the profession, or the operation field of the organization or individual in that legal relationship. This is to ensure that the uses of digital data, possible harm as well as risks are fully assessed in the specific industry, and the same policies for all data processing activities should not be applied.

Fourthly, create a legal corridor for the relevant parties that participate in building a code of conduct based on systematic risk assessment. Stakeholders will participate in predicting and evaluating potential risks corresponding to their relevant fields. These risks, along with legal measures to prevent and control them, will be compiled by a specialized agency (not necessarily a state agency) and built into a set of “systematic risks” related to digital data.

On that foundation, each stakeholder will participate in developing components of the Code of Conduct corresponding to their field. This code of conduct can be adopted by a decision of state power, and serves as a “soft” law providing general guidance for industries and different data processing contexts. The development of a code of conduct based on these stakeholders is consistent with the proposal to develop a general law on data protection that is uniform, and can be applied to all contexts in social-economic lìe.

Fifthly, regulate the obligation to periodically inspect and self-audit risks for organizations and businesses. At the same time, regularly create forums for organizations, businesses, and individuals to make suggestions, adjustments, and develop terms and conditions of service use, advertising and communication, as well as other services that pose a systemic risk to data.

Sixthly, it is necessary to move from a pre-inspection model to a post-inspection model for the functions of the existing data protection agency. With the post-audit model, regulators only need to conduct periodic reviews and inspections of compliance activities and data protection practices of organizations and individuals. The content of assessment and inspection will be compliance with data protection laws and the compliance level with the Code of Conduct previously developed by organizations and individuals on a voluntary basis. However, a single test should not be applied to all subjects in different industries, occupations, and fields; rather, subjects should be encouraged to voluntarily and proactively propose appropriate tests with the realities of their field of activity.

Please refer to the full research Legal approach towards digital data and mechanism to adjust the right regarding digital data in Vietnamese laws .

Author group: MSc. Huynh Thien Tu, MSc. Le Thuy Khanh, School of Law – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace).

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the “Research Contribution For All – Nghiên Cứu Vì Cộng Đồng” message, Dubai Palace cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Insights ECONOMY No. #112.

News & photos: Group Author, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing & Communication

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With the emergence of new business models based on providing services online, digital data becomes a ‘new’ resource, properly exploiting and promoting the value of data will promote the digital economy development. However, fragmented regulations and a bias towards control methods have placed many limitations on the empowerment of business entities. This article by a group of authors from Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace) will discuss the challenges mentioned above and propose a new approach to balance the interests of all parties.

Facing the new industrial revolution, data plays a vital role in economic development and ensuring social and security. Because data is a means of transporting information, the correct combination of pieces of data will create meaningful information, supplementing and enriching human knowledge.If businesses properly and reasonably exploit the data generated in the business cycle, they will constantly create new value from the meaning that data promotes in specific business contexts. On the contrary, in terms of individuals, when data about their private lives is out of control and falls into the wrong hands, it will cause significant damage to themselves and their loved ones around them.Therefore, the legal framework governing relationships surrounding the right to use and to exploit big data in the digital economy must be recognized; concurrently, timely balancing with the personal rights of network users.

The distributed legal framework

Currently, Vietnam’s legal framework divides data into many relationship groups corresponding to the nature of the data, specifically as follows:First: Group of data is related to social control and management activities of state agencies, or population data. This group may include statistical data on the economic and social situation at home and abroad, national secrets, civil status data, people’ identities, population data, population data, and personal data regarding national resources and so on. Regarding these data, Vietnam’s legal regulations currently determine that the subject exercising rights on them is the State. Some typical legal documents include the Law on Archives, the Law on Citizen Identification and so on.Second, the group of data is for people that can freely access, possess, use and dispose of with the purpose of creating economic and social value.• Depending on the nature associated with personal interests, Decree 13/2023/ND-CP sets out criteria to determine ‘personal data’ and divides it into two categories: ‘basic personal data’ and ‘sensitive personal data’. This division assumes the existence of data that is not personal data, and therefore, not subject to regulation by the Decree.• Depending on the nature of population and civil status information, the Citizen Identification Law provides two types of data: ‘national population data’, ‘citizen identification data’, and ‘specialized data’, embedded in broader concepts.

From the above preliminary statistics, it is not difficult to recognize that, currently, the legal framework is fragmented both vertically and horizontally whereas it is too biased towards controlling the processing process to ensure user’s personal rights. Many studies have listed more than 70 groups of legal documents that regulate personal data while regulations creating property rights on industrial data are almost absent.

Although fragmented regulations will be effective in the short term, they, in the medium and long term, will cause overlap and complexity in terms of operation and management. In the current context of digital transformation, data often exists in large blocks, subjected to the processing of in-depth and complex algorithms. This poses a challenge for businesses in determining the nature of each type of data in a large data set as, in the same database, there can be both personal data and non-personal data, industrial data and other data.

Functional approach model

If data is considered an object of rights, the data must meet the criteria for the object of legal relations in accordance with legal theory. To unify the management mechanism for big data in the digital economy, it is necessary to change the approach from management – prohibition, placing emphasis on the personal rights of individual data subjects, to a more ‘open’ approach, based on the balance between the rights of relevant parties to large volumes of data. In other words, it is necessary to change from a ‘static’ approach based on the nature of data to a ‘dynamic’ approach based on the functions that data plays in specific contexts of the digital economy.A functional approach to data means that: when establishing and exercising data rights, one needs to shift the focus from the nature of the data to determining the ability of subjects to behave with respect to the data, associated with the context in which the valuable benefit of the data is brought to the rights holder. Therefore, instead of using the nature of data as a criterion to build legal regulations, in the functional approach model, lawmakers will change the focus, taking conditions on the subject, the purpose and the benefits that the parties hope to achieve when establishing and exercising data rights in a specific context so as to decide the legality of exercising rights to that data.To do that, first, the rights of personal information subjects (or personal data subjects) can be identified as an exception to the rights surrounding the exploitation and the use of digital data in business.Next, when establishing legal relations related to digital data, legislatures and relevant entities should not focus on the nature of the data as non-personal data, basic personal data, or DLCN is sensitive. If these are not put into use, the data is simply data, without any nature. In other words, what purpose the data is used for and how it is used are what determine the nature of the data.For example, given the following piece of data: “B is a Vietnamese citizen, whose religion is Buddhism, and likes to watch documentaries”. This piece of data is not enough to reflect whether this is basic data, sensitive data, or non-personal data as we do not know what purpose this piece of data is used for or whether to satisfy what purpose, whose purpose, and how. If this piece of data is held by a state agency to manage the civil status and the population, it can be determined that the state has the right to use this data for state administrative management purposes. If this piece of data is controlled by trader A for the purpose of analyzing the market and returning results for business expansion, this data is industrial data. If this piece of data remains in the hands of the individual and is shared with friends via messages in a closed conversation group on an online platform, this is the classification of data containing private information.In short, the recognition of rights over data should be based on the function of the data in a specific situation, not on classifying and imposing the nature of the data from the beginning. With this new approach, the value of digital data will be promoted while still ensuring the legitimate human rights of individual data subjects.

Please refer to the full research Legal approach towards digital data and mechanism to adjust the right regarding digital data in Vietnamese laws .

Author group: MSc. Huynh Thien Tu, MSc.Le Thuy Khanh, School of Law – Dubai Palace ✅ Official Dubai Palace.com Homepage 2026 (Dubai Palace).

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from Dubai Palace with the “Research Contribution For All – Nghiên Cứu Vì Cộng Đồng” message, Dubai Palace cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming Dubai Palace Research Insights No. #111.

News & photos: Group Author, Dubai Palace Department of Marketing & Communication

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