VIETNAM

Vietnam enforces Decree 284, imposing fines on crypto trading through unlicensed exchanges. Despite five valid applications, no licenses have been approved, leaving investors in a regulatory limbo.

Vietnam exported 6.03 million tonnes of rice worth $2.91 billion in eight months, down 5% by volume and 10.7% by value as prices fell faster than shipments.

Vietnam has overtaken China as the largest goods trade surplus holder with the US, prompting urgent tariff negotiations to address concerns over transshipment and trade fraud.

The country is strong in the mathematics and computing that sit behind quantum technology and weak in the physics at its centre. Four universities are preparing courses; none exists yet.