Vietnam Update Oct 4: Ho Chi Minh City’s first weekend under the new normal

After months of some form of a lockdown, Vietnam’s largest city and epicenter of the country’s fourth Covid wave, Ho Chi Minh City, enjoyed its first weekend under relaxed restrictions. A sense of normalcy is returning, yet Vietnam’s Covid-19 battle is far from over. The following is Access Asia’s latest update on the situation in Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. On Friday afternoon, Ho Chi Minh City’s overarching new pandemic rules got an official name: Directive 18. This codified the sweeping loosening of restrictions and the impact this weekend was as […]

Read More

Vietnam Update August 27: Vaccine diplomacy with another health twist

As Vietnam continues to battle major Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, in which strict containment measures have shuttered economy activity, supply chains and of course people’s livelihoods, an interesting form of vaccine diplomacy occurred earlier this week with another health-related twist – Havana Syndrome. On Tuesday, there was a three hour delay in the flight departure of US Vice President Kamala Harris flying from Singapore to Hanoi due to a report of a “recent possible anomalous health incident” in Hanoi. The incident is being investigated by the US as possible cases of Havana Syndrome, the term used for a rash […]

Read More

Vietnam Update: Lockdowns extended as limited headway is made in Covid-19 fight

As Vietnam continues to  battle major Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, strict lock-downs have been extended, with Ho Chi Minh City extending its current lock-down for at least one more month. Unfortunately, despite strict containment measures and a rapid vaccination roll-out program, the country is making limited headway against the Delta variant in this fourth wave of Covid cases in Vietnam.  Here is Access Asia’s Monday update on the situation in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. Data update Last Thursday night, this outbreak’s COVID-19 case total was 242,552, with 152,561 active infections. Those figures […]

Read More

Diversifying Supply Chains ‘Go South’

Shifts in regional supply chains that began as a trade war between the United States and China are being hastened this year by the coronavirus pandemic. Broadly speaking, this will result in slowdown in offshoring to China and a redistribution of manufacturing foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Read More

Indonesia Economic Update

Indonesia confirmed its first Covid-19 case on March 2 and now has the highest fatality toll from the disease in Southeast Asia – and second only to China in Asia – meaning the country now faces its biggest political and economic challenge since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

Read More