In 1859, the French invasion of Gia Dinh marked the beginning of their acquisition of Cochinchina. Shortly after their arrival, France brought printers on their ships, along with firearms and artillery. The printers were intended to quickly disseminate the policies of the invading army to the inhabitants of the occupied territory. At the end of 1861, the inaugural official newspaper in Cochinchina, ‘Le Bulletin officiel de l’expédition française de la Cochinchine’, had been published. The Royal Printing House (l’Imprimerie Impériale), the first printing facility in Cochinchina, was also established at the end of 1861 to accommodate printing tasks, particularly the production of gazettes. In 1873, various private printing houses emerged in Saigon-Cho Lon. Printing and publishing efforts gradually assimilated into the social fabric of Cochinchina after serving as a tool of the invaders. They transformed into political and cultural institutions within colonial society, notably in Saigon-Cho Lon. The progression of these activities during the process was observable, at least for those granted permission to participate. The requirements of the colonial environment and the vitality of the private sector fuelled these new activities, although the colonial authorities deemed it necessary to exert control over them. This article offers additional information on the printing and publishing activities in Saigon-Cho Lon, Vietnam, highlighting the accomplishments of some distinguished printers.

This study deals with the impact of Vietnam bank size, loans, credit risk, and liquidity on Vietnam banks’ net interest margin, which are crucial for economic development. High profit margins result in a lower bad debt ratio due to timely loan collection and good liquidity. This study applies a panel data model to evaluate the relationship among bank size, loans, credit risk, liquidity, and marginal profitability, which are increasingly important in commercial bank growth. Data were collected from 2010 to 2022, and test methods were applied to select a good-fit model. Realizing that the factors that have a close correlation and affect the profit margin are 33.6% and 16.07%, 75.2%, 37.51%, 64.30%, and 41.11%, and R2 is 59.04%, respectively, this suggests that financial managers need to develop appropriate strategies and policies to adjust the factors that adversely affect commercial bank profitability.

Over the course of many years, the Mekong Delta region has experienced relatively low and inconsistent levels of business attraction and low quality of the enterprise environment compared to other regions in Vietnam. To delve into whether this discrepancy reflects a negative perception of the business environment in the area, this study employs a dataset comprising the aggregate Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and nine of its component scores, alongside other significant control variables, to analyze business attraction trends spanning from 2010 to 2020. It based on the modeling analysis for the panel data that includes Pool-OLS, FEM and REM models. The findings indicate that PCI serves as an important indicator influencing the quality of the business environment and plays a role in determining the location preferences of businesses. It is observed that public investment has exerted an impact on enticing new businesses to the region throughout this period. These research outcomes carry several policy implications, suggesting that public policy interventions can positively shape the business environment, consequently bolstering the appeal of business investments in the region.

The article provides evidence on the effect of local public governance on the impact of public investment on local and regional economic growth, using spatial and regional logic. The research uses the spatial Durbin model and produces a panel data set that was conducted on 63 provinces of Vietnam from 2006 to 2022. Based on the interaction between public governance and public investment, the main findings indicate that their interaction plays an important role in adjusting the effects of public investment and public governance on economic growth not only in the locality but also spillover to neighboring localities in both the short and long terms. It suggests that local public governance not only hampers the impact of local public investment on local economic growth but also has spillover effects on the growth of neighboring provinces or regions in Vietnam. Additionally, the results of detailed analysis of PCI component indicators show that many aspects of local public governance are hindering local economic growth but contributing to promoting neighboring localities economic growth. Or, it has no effect the locality but promote or hinder the regional economic growth. The findings in this study implies that authorities of localities need to be cautious when using resources to improve the various aspects of public governance when designing strategies to enhance the quality of local public governance. It also suggests that this spillover effect is a crucial factor in advocating for more redistributive fiscal policies and regional governance policies aimed at reducing economic disparities caused by territorial boundaries. Therefore, authorities should prioritize regional cooperation strategies in their decisions regarding public governance and public capital allocation.

While infrastructure provides necessary public services and is vital for the socio-economic development of a nation, public funds alone cannot finance all infrastructure needs in society, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, where many countries are facing budget deficits. Although private financing schemes, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) and land value capture, have been considered intensively, they have yet to produce adequate private capital flows to infrastructure projects due to a lack of incentives for private investors. Against the background, this paper proposes a new financing mechanism in which governments might divert some of the increased tax revenue from the spillover effects of newly constructed infrastructures to fund the private sector through grants or subsidies. The empirical work in Vietnam shows a significant increase in tax revenues after completing two expressways, supporting our idea about spillover effects, which includes small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development. This study’s results suggest that spillover effects can bring new opportunities for governments and multilateral development banks (MDBs) to implement infrastructure projects with greater private sector involvement in the region. It also proposes some financial schemes, such as land capture and financing for business startups, including SMEs, to enhance the spillover effects of infrastructure.

The purpose of the article is to examine the changes in cross-border cooperation between Vietnam and China as a result of the development and connectivity of cross-border infrastructure between the two countries. This article is based on a mixed-methods study that includes desk research and surveys. The article explains how the two countries’ approaches to border shifted from ‘barrier’ to the border of ‘connectivity’. Accordingly, the article examines the changes in border management cooperation between the two countries, which serves as a vital basis for cross-border development cooperation. Furthermore, the article examines the perceptions of the two countries regarding the development and connectivity of cross-border infrastructure for comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and beyond. At the same time, the article examines how the two countries promote the development and connectivity of cross-border infrastructure, both hard and soft. The article also examined some initial results and some issues facing the two countries. The paper concludes with some findings. In particular, the article concludes that increased border connectivity will encourage cross-border cooperation and integration between the two countries and help to alleviate security concerns. Although the two countries have made efforts to open their borders, in the transition from a border of ‘barriers’ to a border of ‘connectivity’ remain partly to Vietnamese people’s memories of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese border war, as well as the impact of the two countries’ unresolved South China Sea disputes. However, Vietnam also tries to promote cross-border cooperation within a controllable level.