Primary led research on markets, competitors, customers and entry conditions in Vietnam and ASEAN, built to support an investment decision rather than to fill a file.
Part of Viettonkin's Market Readiness services
Newly licensed foreign-invested projects in Vietnam numbered 4,054 in 2025, with registered capital of USD 17.32 billion, up 20.1 percent in number but down 12.2 percent in value from 2024. Behind each of those projects sat a judgement about demand, competition and the rules of entry, and the quality of that judgement was set long before any licence application.
The question a market research engagement answers is not how to enter a market but whether to, and why. Before an investor can sensibly weigh location, structure, capital or partners, it needs a reliable picture of the market itself: its size and direction, its competitive dynamics, its customers and how they buy, the rules that govern entry, and the specific factors that decide whether an investor with this profile can succeed in this market.
That picture is moving faster than published research can follow. Vietnam reorganised its ministries and merged its provinces in 2025, a new Law on Investment took effect on 1 March 2026, and United States trade measures on Vietnamese goods have changed several times since the 2025 tariff announcements. A report compiled a year ago can be accurate in every sentence and still point towards the wrong decision.
Most investors begin with a purchased report or a set of published statistics. Both have a place, and neither answers the question the board is actually asking.
Generic market reports describe a market as it looked when the research was carried out, not as it stands today. They aggregate data across sectors and geographies that may have little to do with a particular investor's position, and they substitute published figures for the primary intelligence that actually moves a decision: what distributors are seeing in their order books, how a regulator reads a grey area, and what buyers say when they are asked why they would or would not change supplier.
Vietnam and the wider ASEAN region move faster than secondary research reflects. The competitive dynamics that decide whether an entry succeeds are built on relationships and local knowledge that databases do not capture, and much of the most useful material is published only in Vietnamese: provincial announcements, industry association papers, trade press and the full text of new regulations. Research teams that work only in English see a thinner and older version of the market.
Viettonkin's market research practice is designed to close that gap. It produces intelligence that is specific to the investor, current at the date of delivery and led by primary sources, so that the decision it informs rests on the market as it is. The work is centred on Vietnam, and extends to Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore where the question is a regional one.
Market research suits investors and enterprises that are still deciding whether to commit. These are the questions it is built to answer, and each one shapes the scope differently.
Whether Vietnam, or a specific sector within it, is large enough and growing quickly enough to justify the cost of entry. The answer depends on how the market is defined, so the work starts by agreeing the segment, the customer and the geography before any sizing is attempted, rather than reporting a national total that includes activity the investor will never reach.
Who the established competitors are, what they offer, how they price and distribute, and where their coverage is thin. Local competitors are often private companies with little published information, which is why this part of the work leans on distributor and customer conversations rather than on company filings alone.
Who the customers are, what they need, how purchasing decisions are made and who influences them, and what would persuade a buyer to move to a new entrant. For business customers this usually means interviews with procurement and technical staff; for consumer categories it may call for a structured survey.
Which distribution channels, local partners or direct models are available, how each one earns its margin, and which suits the offer. The rules on trading and distribution by foreign-invested companies are part of this question, and they are changing: Decree 342/2026/ND-CP replaces the previous framework from 18 October 2026.
What the regulatory environment looks like for the activity, what compliance involves, and which conditions apply specifically to a foreign investor. Under the Law on Investment 2025, foreign investors must still satisfy the market access conditions for their sector, and the revised list of conditional business lines has applied since 1 July 2026.
Every engagement follows four phases. The sequence matters: scoping decides which questions are worth the cost of primary research, and the desk research gives the interviews something to test.
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| Phase | What happens | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Research scoping | A structured session defines the research objectives, turns them into specific questions, and identifies the stakeholders and data sources best placed to answer each one. Questions are ranked by how much they affect the investment decision rather than by how easy they are to research. | An agreed research plan and interview list, so that breadth never substitutes for insight. |
| Secondary research | Desk research across government statistics, ministry publications, industry association reports, trade flow data, regulatory texts and competitors' public records, including Vietnamese language sources that English only teams cannot use. | A quantitative baseline: market size, growth, import and export patterns, the regulatory framework and the competitive landscape at an aggregate level. |
| Primary research | In depth interviews with industry experts, regulators, distributors, potential customers, local partners and specialists who rarely respond to cold approaches from abroad. Where findings need quantitative support, customer or distributor surveys are designed with samples suited to the question. | Evidence on how the market actually behaves, against which the baseline is tested and corrected. |
| Analysis and recommendations | Findings are synthesised into market sizing and segmentation, trend and scenario analysis, competitive benchmarking, opportunity and risk mapping, and recommendations specific to the client's objectives and capabilities. | A position on what the market means for this client, presented and discussed in full before the report is finalised. |
Published sources establish the frame. Conversations tell an investor whether that frame holds for its own product, price point and route to market.
Primary research is where being in the market makes a material difference. Distributors, sector specialists and provincial officials speak more openly to a researcher they can meet, in their own language, than to an email from an overseas desk, and their views seldom appear in any published report. The quality of a primary research programme depends almost entirely on the network behind it, which in Viettonkin's case has been built over 17 years of work in Vietnam.
Interviews are structured so that findings can be compared and weighed rather than quoted selectively. Each interview guide follows the questions agreed at scoping, respondents are chosen to represent different positions in the value chain, and the report records the basis of each finding, so that a reader can tell an official position from an informed estimate or a single respondent's view.
Surveys and interview programmes also have to respect Vietnam's data protection rules. The Law on Personal Data Protection took effect on 1 January 2026, replacing the earlier decree, and it treats consent as valid only when it is specific and given for a stated purpose: silence or a lack of response does not count. Research designs therefore record how respondents were approached and what they agreed to, particularly where contact details or personal views are collected.
The main deliverable is a market research report in PDF or PowerPoint, with an executive summary for senior leadership. The scope below is typical; each engagement selects the elements that matter to its decision.
The macroeconomic context, the direction of the sector and the investment climate, including the policy and trade factors that bear on it. For Vietnam in 2026 that includes the reorganised administration, the new investment law and the shifting United States trade position, each described as it stands at the date of the report.
Current market size, historical growth and forward projections under clearly stated base and upside assumptions. Sizing is built from the segment the client can actually serve, and the report shows how each figure was derived, so that it can be revisited when conditions change.
Target customer profiles, purchasing behaviour, unmet needs and willingness to pay, drawn from interviews and, where the scope includes it, survey evidence. The emphasis is on what would make a buyer choose a new entrant, because that is where entry plans most often rest on untested assumptions.
The key players, their estimated market positions, positioning, pricing and distribution, and the gaps between them. Estimates are labelled as estimates, with their basis, so that a competitor's scale inferred from distributor interviews is never mistaken for audited data.
The available channel structures, the partner landscape and channel economics, together with sector regulations, foreign ownership conditions, licensing requirements and an overview of compliance costs. The two are presented together because the rules frequently decide which channel is realistically open to a foreign-invested company.
Opportunities, challenges and risks ranked by materiality against the client's profile, followed by a preliminary view on entry viability, timing, positioning and next steps. A recommendation not to proceed, or to gather further evidence first, is a legitimate result of the work.
Some decisions need more than the core report. These outputs can be included in the initial scope or commissioned once the first findings have set the direction.
Candidates identified and ranked against the client's own criteria, from distributors and agents to suppliers and potential joint venture partners. A shortlist can lead directly into a business matching engagement, in which the candidates are screened, approached and introduced in structured meetings.
Detailed company level analysis of key competitors, and maps of the government authorities, sector associations, major buyers and other influencers relevant to the client's plans. Both remain useful long after the research closes, particularly once commercial conversations begin.
A structured synthesis of the primary interviews, organised by research question, for clients who want to see the evidence behind the conclusions rather than the conclusions alone. Respondent identities are handled in line with what each respondent agreed to.
A detailed analysis of the licensing pathway and compliance framework for a specific sector or business model, useful where the regulatory position is itself the main uncertainty. It connects directly to Viettonkin's legal, licensing and investment registration work.
A quantitative survey programme designed to test specific hypotheses or to size a specific segment, where qualitative research has identified an opportunity but the investment decision needs numbers that interviews alone cannot provide. The survey design, sample and questions are agreed before fieldwork starts, and the results are reported with their margins and limitations.
Channel selection, positioning, pricing and a phased entry plan built on the research findings, for clients who have decided to proceed and want the research carried through into an operating plan rather than left as a report.
Four principles run through every engagement. They are also the questions worth asking of any research provider before the work begins.
Research design starts from primary sources. Secondary sources describe markets as they were; interviews with experts, distributors and regulators describe the market as it is and where it is heading. Our methodology uses secondary data to provide the quantitative frame and primary intelligence to reach the analytical conclusion, rather than the other way round.
Local sources are read in the original. A significant share of the most relevant market intelligence in Vietnam sits in Vietnamese language government publications, industry association materials and local media that English language databases do not capture. Our bilingual team uses these sources as a matter of course, and they are often where the first signal of a regulatory change appears.
Policy is treated as a driver rather than background. The reciprocal tariff framework announced in 2025 no longer stands: the United States Supreme Court held on 20 February 2026 that emergency economic powers do not authorise tariffs. Later measures followed, including a Section 301 action signed on 23 July 2026 that directs a 12.5 percent tariff on goods from Vietnam, and a separate investigation into Vietnam's intellectual property enforcement opened on 29 May 2026. For export oriented investments this layer can change the answer, so it is assessed as at the date of the report.
Research connects to action. The practice sits within a wider advisory firm covering legal, tax, accounting, HR and investment registration, so findings can carry into a Pre-Feasibility Study, a Feasibility Study or a registration process without the evidence being rebuilt by a new team.
Since 2009, Viettonkin has supported 2,000+ businesses, including Fortune 500 and VNR500 companies. The engagements below were research led, and are described by their scope.
An Indian castor oil producer planning a manufacturing facility in Vietnam asked for a structured assessment before committing. Viettonkin analysed three shortlisted industrial zones in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh on location, rental, utilities, labour and logistics, researched the pricing and availability of key raw materials with a local supplier list, and covered rules of origin, taxes and duties for export.
Read the case study
A Singapore based investment fund exploring Vietnam's gaming sector needed clarity on the legal framework and the market. Viettonkin researched the licensing requirements for online and offline games, profiled key developers and publishers, popular categories and trends, and set out the localisation practices the Vietnamese market requires.
Read the case study
A regional logistics company wanted to understand where it was losing competitive bids. Viettonkin ran a structured market intelligence programme covering competitor pricing, win and loss interviews and shadow pricing analysis.
Read the case studyPractical answers on scope, sources, markets covered and what follows the report.
Market research establishes whether a market is worth entering and on what basis: its size, competitors, customers, channels and rules. A feasibility study tests whether a specific investment concept is commercially and operationally viable, usually with a financial model. Many investors commission research first and use its findings to scope a pre-feasibility or feasibility study.
Published reports describe a market as it was and aggregate data that may not match your segment. Interviews with distributors, customers, experts and regulators show how the market behaves now and why. We use published data for the quantitative frame and primary research to test it and reach a conclusion.
Yes. The work is centred on Vietnam and extends to Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore where an investor is comparing markets or planning a regional entry. The scope for each market is agreed at the outset, because the sources and the regulatory questions differ from country to country.
It does, as at the date of the report. Recent examples include the Law on Investment 2025, in force since 1 March 2026, the provincial merger that took effect on 1 July 2025, the new decree on trading and distribution by foreign-invested companies from 18 October 2026, and United States trade measures that have changed repeatedly since 2025.
The findings are presented and discussed with your team before the report is finalised. From there, clients commonly move into business matching with shortlisted partners, a pre-feasibility or feasibility study, or investment registration. Each follow-on step is scoped separately, and none of them is required.
Regulatory and trade points checked on 17 September 2026; market statistics checked on 11 September 2026. Requirements depend on the activity, the investor and the date of filing.
Tell us the market, the decision you are facing and what you already know. We will set out the questions worth researching, the sources that can answer them and how the findings would feed your next step.
