Vietnam’s push for ‘chip-to-ship’ conglomerates raises red flags

HANOI: Two days after Vietnam’s top leader called on local private companies to help build infrastructure, listed conglomerate Vingroup stepped forward to develop a $70 billion nationwide high-speed railway and build the trains to run on it.

Communist Party leader To Lam’s request was part of a broader call for a stronger private sector in Resolution 68, a party development blueprint issued in May that some analysts labelled ‘Doi Moi 2.0’ after the 1980s reforms that opened the Southeast Asian nation’s economy.