After years of discussions with officials and the completion of a risk assessment, U.S. streaming giant Netflix Inc. is opening a representative office in Vietnam. The risk assessment was conducted in late 2022, which included evaluating the security and political risks of operating an office in Vietnam, as well as the handling of user data and sensitive content. The office could open as early as late 2023, but it may also require a lengthy regulatory process, according to one of the sources.
Vietnam’s 2018 Cybersecurity Law requires any foreign businesses that make money from online operations in Vietnam to establish a local representative office. Thus far, only ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has complied.
With a local office, Netflix would become the first major U.S. tech company with a direct presence in the country, increasingly regarded as too profitable to ignore despite reservations about its strict internet regulations.
Vietnam has become a crucial market in Southeast Asia for tech giants because of its fast-growing middle class. According to a report by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Bain & Company, its digital economy, which includes fintech, e-commerce, and online entertainment, is on track to increase to USD 50 billion in total transactions per year by 2025, more than double the figure of 2022.
(Sources: VnExpress; Vietnam Insider)