Vietnam’s Market Has Upgraded. Your People & Culture Should Too.

Vietnam has officially been re-classified by FTSE Russell from Frontier to Secondary Emerging Market status.
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That’s not just a headline, it signals a fundamental shift in how capital flows, how businesses operate, and how teams must scale.

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This milestone is backed by sweeping reforms:

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- Removal of full pre-funding requirements for foreign investors

- Launch of a high-speed trading platform (in partnership with Korea Exchange) and settlement upgrades

- Mandatory English-language disclosures for public listed firms

- New rules liberalising foreign ownership and streamliner broker access

- Record GDP growth (Q3 2025 up 8.23%) and a clear roadmap toward double-digit growth

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In other words: Vietnam has upgraded. The market is changing. And your company needs to change too.

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What That Means for Your Business

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The dynamics we’re seeing: growth + seriousness + transparency.
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If you’re scaling in Vietnam now, you’re no longer operating in a frontier-style wildcard market. You’re operating in a market where expectations increase fast.

- Investors will expect both financial performance and operational rigor.

- Teams must show they can execute - fast, clear, accountable.

- Cultural fluency matters: You’ll need to speak investor-ready English, while functioning on the ground in HCMC, Hanoi, or beyond.

- Growth won’t just reward speed. It will reward organisations whose people systems match market momentum.

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If your People & Culture is still behind the curve, the opportunity cost is high.

‍Why Unfiltered Matters More Than Ever

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We founded Unfiltered because too many companies treat People & Culture like tick-boxes. But the truth is: when your market upgrades, your organisation must too.

With Vietnam now officially an Emerging Market, that gap is far costlier. Messy decision structures, weak onboarding, unclear org design…they leak value. They slow you down. And they make you riskier.

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Ready to Lead the Upgrade?

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Your people system shouldn’t play catch-up with the economy, it should lead it.

Vietnam is no longer “just Asia.” It’s now one of the fastest-moving Emerging Markets. Growth targets are higher. Expectations are greater. The winners will be those who combine:

- Speed with discipline

- Ambition with adaptability

- Clarity with culture

At Unfiltered, we embed People & Culture solutions that are pragmatic, growth-aligned, and built for Southeast Asia. So you’re not just speaking the market’s language, you’re executing in it.

Here’s what we help you build—so you’re ready for the next market chapter.

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Operational Cadence - Weekly leadership huddles, quarterly OKRs, decision-rights  clarity—so execution keeps pace with market speed

Governance & Transparency - Investor-ready rhythms, “no surprises” rules, clean  English external artifacts—aligning with emerging-market expectations

Scalable Culture & Org Design - Org design that fits your stage and size (what to  centralize, what to localize); manager enablement for feedback and  performance across cultures; compensation & progression frameworks that  are equitable yet locally grounded

Change That Sticks -Co-creation and execution for M&A, restructuring, or  market entry; clear comms choreography so people know who hears what, when and why

Talent & Capability - Managers trained in coaching, feedback, and  accountability; succession and onboarding plans for critical roles—not just  job descriptions

Unfiltered partners with you as your senior People &Culture advisory:

- On demand when you need quick interventions

- Embedded to build leadership, processes and practices that stick

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We help you build a people operating system aligned with Vietnam’s upgraded reality: clear, compliant, fast, and human.

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Vietnam’s market has upgraded—your People & Culture should too.
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Get ahead. Lead the change. The next wave of growth is waiting.

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