Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Financial cooperation is emerging as an important pillar of the Vietnam-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as Vietnam accelerates the development of its international financial centre, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Cong Vinh stated at the UK-Vietnam High-level Conference on Financial Services 2026 in the southern hub on September 14.
Jointly organised by the Embassy of the UK in Vietnam, the British Chamber of Commerce Vietnam (BritCham) and Dragon Capital, the event underlined the importance of developing capital markets, strengthening governance standards and building an internationally qualified workforce, noting that these are key to attracting global capital and financial institutions.
Expanding financial cooperation
Ho Chi Minh City highly values the support of UK partners in the development of the Vietnam International Financial Centre (VIFC) in the city, Vinh said, noting that through joint research, conferences, seminars, training programmes and field exchanges, the City of London demonstrated its goodwill and confidence in Vietnam’s and Ho Chi Minh City’s potential to develop a financial centre for connecting regional and international markets.
As the city seeks to improve growth quality and reform resource mobilisation and allocation, investment in transport infrastructure, green transition and digital, and business competitiveness requires diverse, long-term funding at reasonable costs.
The municipal authorities see VIFC development as a strategic task to connect international capital flows with the economy’s development needs, develop modern financial services, and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to engage more deeply in global markets, Vinh said.
According to Vinh, alongside special policies under Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15, the Law on Urban Development, adopted by the National Assembly on August 24, 2026, provides an additional legal basis for linking the VIFC with the city’s strategic projects and expanding financing tools for infrastructure.
VIFC is moving from institution building to substantive operations, with initial products, including municipal and project bonds, expected to be launched this year.
He stressed that the centre’s success should be measured by concrete results, including capital mobilised and disbursed for feasible projects, businesses’ access to suitable financial services, safe and convenient transactions, and the growing capacity of domestic personnel to handle international financial operations.
To this end, Ho Chi Minh City seeks to strengthen cooperation with experienced financial centres, institutions and partners, including the UK and the City of London, with cooperation focusing on improving the operating environment, developing the market, and strengthening implementation capacity.
UK Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Frew said the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is expanding beyond trade and investment, with the UK seeking to be a long-term partner sharing expertise, international experience and innovation.
Bilateral financial cooperation is focusing on expanding access to finance, mobilising capital for green transition, and strengthening core foundations of the financial system, the diplomat said, adding that the UK is proud to cooperate with Vietnam not only as an investor, but also as a long-term partner, towards sharing expertise, innovation and international experience.
Foundations for VIFC to foster international integration
Susan Langley, Lord Mayor of the City of London, said Vietnam’s progress has been recognised internationally, noting that FTSE Russell’s upgrade of Vietnam's stock market status from frontier to secondary emerging this month reflected improvements in regulations, brokerage operations and capital mobilisation.
Chairman of Dragon Capital Dominic Scriven said Vietnam’s capital market had made significant progress but still had room to improve liquidity, broaden investors’ participation and upgrade infrastructure.
He said sharing experience with the UK, particularly with a financial centre like the City of London, can help Vietnam explore solutions to develop its capital market in the new period.
Experts also stressed that attracting international capital depends not only on market size but also on governance quality and human resources.
At a discussion on women’s leadership, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Sovico Group Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said VIFC should establish an inclusive governance mechanism from the outset, enabling women, men, scientists, intellectuals and entrepreneurs to contribute to its development and operation.
The centre should build its own “DNA” based on professionalism, transparency, openness, respect for differences and the ability to attract top talent, she said, adding governance must go beyond compliance to embrace integrity, accountability, risk management, and systems thinking./.
