Vietnam’s International Financial Centre: Building the foundations for future growth

Vietnam is increasingly drawing the attention of international investors as it enters its next stage of economic development.

In our first article, we explored Vietnam's latest regulatory reforms and what they mean for market entry, sector opportunities and ongoing compliance. 

In the second of this three-part series, we examine Vietnam's International Financial Centre (VIFC) initiative in pushing forward the country's ambition to build the financial infrastructure, institutions and capital ecosystem needed to support the country's next phase of growth. 

Introduction

Less than a year after Vietnam established the legal framework for its International Financial Centre (VIFC), the initiative remains at an early stage of development.  

The VIFC was established through Resolution No. 222/2025/QH15 on 27 June 2025, with the framework subsequently implemented through Decree No. 323/2025/ND-CP issued on 18 December 2025. 

Its two hubs — the Ho Chi Minh City hub (VIFC-HCMC) and the Da Nang hub (VIFC-DN) — were launched on 11 February 2026 and 9 January 2026 respectively.

Birth of the VIFC recognizes that sustaining Vietnam's next phase of growth requires not just manufacturing capacity and upskilling but also building the institutions, financial infrastructure and wider economic environment necessary to develop a credible capital ecosystem.

The ambition for the VIFC 

Under the "one centre, two destinations" model, the VIFC operates as a unified legal entity across Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. While both locations share a common legal framework and operating standards, they are intended to serve complementary roles within Vietnam's broader financial centre ambitions.[1]

• VIFC-HCMC is geared towards developing a comprehensive financial ecosystem, providing both traditional and specialized financial services. These include capital mobilization, investment, payments, issuance and trading of financial products, asset management, fintech and green finance. 
• VIFC-DN is positioned as an innovation-oriented financial centre, closely linked with digital technology and sustainable finance. It will serve as a controlled testing environment for new financial models, including digital assets, digital payments, specialized trading. 

Vietnam needs substantial capital to finance the next stage of its economic transformation; analysts suggest USD 1.5 trillion to support industrialization and infrastructure development in the coming years. Historically, growth has been financed through bank lending, foreign investments and public expenditure but Vietnam is looking also at alternative sources including capital markets, institutional investments, private credit and green finance. The VIFC seeks to achieve this through, amongst others, a package of tax incentives designed to attract international investors and businesses. 

Equally important is talent. Global financial institutions require experienced professionals across banking, asset management, compliance, risk management, technology, legal and accounting disciplines. The personal tax and immigration incentives introduced under the VIFC framework are attractive and geared towards luring a deep and internationally experienced talent pool to migrate to the VIFC.

Some of the key incentives are outlined below.

Beyond tax incentives, the ability to move capital efficiently across borders will be a critical determinant of the VIFC's competitiveness and ability to facilitate capital flow through a well-governed and supervised framework. International investors will be looking out for forex flexibility, capital repatriation and settlement efficiency before settling on the VIFC as an attractive platform for regional investment activity.

What is required for the VIFC to succeed?

However, establishing the legal framework and offering incentives are only first steps. The longer-term challenge revolves around building institutional foundations necessary for the VIFC to function effectively, while ensuring the VIFC develops alongside wider reforms in Vietnam's financial system and economy.

What are these foundations? 

Financial institutions such as commercial banks and asset management firms will be critical in channelling foreign capital into Vietnam’s economy, supported by an ecosystem comprising fund administrators, custodians, trustees, insurers, re-insurers, rating agencies, clearing and settlement systems as well as legal and accounting professionals. Deeper capital markets including corporate bond markets will over time be key sources of financing for long-term projects. Beyond financial infrastructure, a credible and efficient dispute-resolution framework, supported by regulatory certainty and investor protection, will bolster investor confidence in the governance and enforcement of the VIFC rules and framework.

A successful VIFC is not merely a location occupied by banks and finance industry intermediaries. It is very much an ecosystem – very much how investors view trust as Singapore's greatest selling point.  The collapse of Abraaj, a prominent private equity firm operating from the DIFC following findings of serious misconduct attracted significant international attention and demonstrated how the actions of individual institutions can demoralize or bolster confidence in a financial centre.[7] The VIFC will need to integrate with and contribute to Vietnam's wider economy; it cannot operate in isolation. Its growth supports wider economic reforms by promoting financial activity within the centres, and potentially service as a vehicle for change by providing a controlled environment to test broader economic reforms. Rather than immediate economy-wide implementation, new regulatory approaches and financial models could potentially be sandboxed within the VIFC prior to broader adoption. This allows Vietnam to refine reforms gradually while reducing the risks associated with introducing significant changes across the entire financial system.

Whether the VIFC will emerge as a compelling alternative  to established financial centres such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai remains to be seen but it is a bold step in the right direction in supporting investments into higher-growth opportunities in an emerging market. 

Implications for investors 

For international investors and fund managers, the VIFC represents a potential new channel for accessing investment opportunities arising from Vietnam's continued economic growth. The VIFC is nonetheless at an early stage of development and the industry continues to monitor how its regulatory framework, market infrastructure and institutional ecosystem evolves.

Ultimately, the VIFC's success will not be measured or achieved by the carrots it dangles but by whether it becomes a trusted platform through which international capital can be deployed into Vietnam and the wider region. For now it remains a promising policy initiative but as Vietnam has demonstrated, things can accelerate very quickly and we may soon be looking at the VIFC achieving critical mass.

At Withers, we support MNCs, fund managers, investors and private wealth clients on tax and legal aspects when structuring investments into Vietnam and the broader APAC region. We have Vietnamese language capabilities in our Singapore office and routinely work with Vietnamese-qualified counsel when Vietnamese law advice is required.