What would a founder or CEO need to know before committing to Singapore or Vietnam?
Told the way a guidebook tells it. Two companies, Crocs and Mastercard, run through every section so you can watch the same firm cross the border.
Question 1
What are the perceived risks of doing business in each country in government, society, security and economy?
Question 2
What does this mean for foreign direct investment?
Question 3
How might the current political environment affect business: transparency, corruption, trade, civil unrest and the industries most impacted?
At a glance
Both are one-party-dominant and both are safe to visit. Almost everything else differs.
- Currency
- Singapore: S$Singapore dollar, about 1.27 to the US dollar
- Vietnam: ₫Vietnamese dong, about 25,900 to the US dollar; notes only
- Ruling party's seats
- Singapore: 87 of 97People's Action Party, May 2025; PM Lawrence Wong
- Vietnam: 482 of 500Communist Party, March 2026; To Lam heads party and state
- US travel advisory
- Singapore: Level 1Normal precautions; crime against foreigners is rare
- Vietnam: Level 1Normal precautions; petty theft is common in tourist areas
A small rich city and a big fast-growing country
17 times the people in Vietnam; nearly 20 times the output per person in Singapore.
- PeopleEach dot is 1 million people · United States: 341.8m (July 2025)
- Singapore: 6.1mJune 2025
- Vietnam: 101.6m2025
- GDP per person, annualEach square is US$1,000 · United States: US$90,027 (2025)
- Singapore: US$98,814annual, 2025
- Vietnam: US$5,026annual, 2025
When the weather gets in the way
Our November trip lands at the tail of Vietnam's typhoon season. Both are hot all year; expect highs near 90°F.
Singapore: monsoons
Vietnam: typhoon season
Average daily high and low, °F
Singapore
- Jan: 87° high, 76° low
- Feb: 89° high, 76° low
- Mar: 90° high, 77° low
- Apr: 90° high, 78° low
- May: 90° high, 78° low
- Jun: 89° high, 78° low
- Jul: 89° high, 78° low
- Aug: 89° high, 78° low
- Sep: 89° high, 77° low
- Oct: 89° high, 77° low
- Nov: 88° high, 76° low
- Dec: 87° high, 76° low
Ho Chi Minh City
- Jan: 90° high, 74° low
- Feb: 91° high, 74° low
- Mar: 92° high, 77° low
- Apr: 94° high, 80° low
- May: 95° high, 80° low
- Jun: 92° high, 78° low
- Jul: 91° high, 77° low
- Aug: 91° high, 77° low
- Sep: 91° high, 77° low
- Oct: 90° high, 77° low
- Nov: 90° high, 77° low
- Dec: 89° high, 75° low
- Tet 2026: business shuts: 02-14 to 02-22
- Our trip, 3 to 13 Nov: 11-03 to 11-13
Tet dates are for 2026.
Five risks to know on arrival
The ones that can get a visitor arrested, robbed or hurt.
Singapore
- Drug laws carry the death penalty. Trafficking can mean execution; possession can mean caning.
- Petty offences are arrestable. Jaywalking, littering or spitting can lead to arrest, and vandalism means caning.
- Leave the vape at home. Possessing or using one can cost S$10,000 since May 2026.
- Expect scams, not street crime. 37,308 scam cases and S$913 million lost in 2025.
- The terror threat is rated high. Driven by online self-radicalisation.
Vietnam
- The road is the biggest danger. 8,515 traffic deaths in the first ten months of 2025.
- Do not rent a motorbike. Illegal without a Vietnamese licence, and it voids your insurance.
- Hold on to your phone and bag. Drive-by snatching is common; use established taxi firms.
- Drug tests look back. You can be charged for something taken before you arrived.
- Insure for evacuation. Local hospitals do not take US insurance.