Vietnam likely impacted by Russia’s disconnect from SWIFT

Hanoi (VNA) – With Russia disconnected from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), Vietnam, like many other countries, will face payment troubles in doing trade with Russia as the two countries have long-standing economic relations, said economist Assoc. Prof., Dr. Dinh Trong Thanh.

The SWIFT ban means Russia is being shut out from global interbank payment system, likely to cause difficulties for payments and trade between the two countries, including both public and private sectors, he noted.

However, there are alternative ways for this, not necessarily through SWIFT, the economist said.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), international payments in Vietnam are mostly done through SWIFT and Western Union money transfer services under the agreement with domestic credit institutions. Money transfer is also done via mail and telex. But SWIFT dominates because it is relatively faster, more secured and cost-efficient compared to other means.

It will be challenging but there will be solutions, said CEO of Orient Commercial JSC (OCB) Nguyen Dinh Tung. As a developed country in terms of technology, Russian banks will work things out, he said.

It takes more time to assess the level of impact the ban has on Vietnam, the economists shared.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that the Vietnam-Russia trade reached 7.14 billion USD last year, up 25.9 percent from 2020./.