International Financial Center creates new momentum, breakthrough for development

On the morning of January 4, in Ho Chi Minh City, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a conference to announce the Government's Resolution on the action plan to implement the Politburo's Conclusion on building a regional and international financial center in Vietnam.

Attending the conference were: Politburo member, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh; Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen; Politburo member, Minister of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang; Politburo member, Minister of Public Security, General Luong Tam Quang; Party Central Committee Secretary, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Le Minh Tri; ministers, leaders of central departments, ministries and branches; leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang City and centrally-run provinces and cities; representatives of diplomatic agencies, international organizations, financial institutions, and domestic and foreign business associations.

Building a Financial Center is a national task, for the whole country.

Previously, on November 15, 2024, the Politburo issued Notice No. 47-TB/TW "on the construction of a regional and international financial center in Vietnam."

Among them, the Politburo agreed to establish a comprehensive international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City and a regional financial center in Da Nang.

From now until 2030, 8 groups of policies will be issued and immediately implemented in accordance with international practices, suitable for Vietnam's conditions and need to be applied immediately; at the same time, 6 groups of policies will be piloted in major financial centers around the world, but there needs to be a roadmap for application to suit the actual conditions in Vietnam.

During the 2030-2035 period, we will fully implement common policy groups in major financial centers around the world, in accordance with the actual conditions in Vietnam.

The conference listened to the announcement of Resolution No. 259/NQ-CP dated December 31, 2024 of the Government promulgating the Action Plan to implement the conclusions of the Politburo and the Decision of the Prime Minister to establish the Steering Committee on the Regional and International Financial Center in Vietnam; witnessed the launching ceremony of the Steering Committee on the Regional and International Financial Center in Vietnam.

Resolution No. 259/NQ-CP of the Government has assigned 49 groups of tasks and solutions to 12 ministries, branches, and localities to take charge of implementation, associated with output products to form a legal framework and prepare the foundational conditions for the development of financial centers in Vietnam, focusing on 5 key points: Developing modern financial infrastructure; attracting international talent; promoting financial innovation; expanding international integration; protecting financial security.

At the conference, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang presented specific preparations for developing the financial center; solutions to implement the Action Plan and the Decision to establish the Steering Committee of the two cities on the financial center.

At the same time, he said that the process of building a financial center is the result of the sense of responsibility, efforts and dedication of many organizations and individuals. This is not just the work of Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang, but of the whole country and for the whole country.

Leaders of ministries and branches spoke and proposed solutions to develop the capital market; develop the monetary and banking sector; develop a dispute resolution mechanism; and develop digital infrastructure for the Vietnam Financial Center.

Ms. Alexandra Smith, Consul General of the United Kingdom in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Vietnam is at an important moment, entering an era of national development; the construction of a regional and international financial center in Vietnam is one of the proofs to ensure this goal.

Finance plays an extremely important role in contributing to the country's development; it is the UK's top priority in ASEAN and the region. The UK has been and is committed to continuing to cooperate and support Vietnam to successfully build regional and international financial centers.

Speaking at the conference, expressing his delight at the strong participation of ministries, branches and localities, the support and sharing of international friends, and strengthening the belief in the effective development of the International Financial Center in Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that after nearly 40 years of renovation, Vietnam has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as it does today.

In 2024, Vietnam's socio-economic situation continues to recover very positively, with each month higher than the previous month, each quarter better than the previous quarter, achieving many outstanding results in all fields and better than in 2023.

Vietnam continues to be a bright spot in growth and is among the countries with high growth in the region and the world, with a GDP growth rate of about 7% for the whole year, bringing the economic scale to about 470 billion USD.

Total import-export turnover reached a record of 810 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 24 billion USD. State budget revenue reached a record of over 2 million billion VND, exceeding the estimate by 19%.

Attracting FDI, reaching about 40 billion USD, is among the 15 developing countries attracting the largest foreign investment capital in the world.

Vietnam has signed 17 FTAs, has relations with 33 comprehensive, strategic and equivalent strategic partners, including comprehensive strategic partnerships with 9 countries.

According to the Prime Minister, 2025 is a year of special significance, celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Party's founding, the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification, the 135th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the country, the restructuring of the apparatus and the year of holding Party Congresses at all levels, towards the 14th National Party Congress; it is also the final year of implementing the 5-year socio-economic development plan 2021-2025, the year of acceleration, breakthrough, creating the foundation and premise for double-digit growth in the 2026-2030 period and becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.

Outlining the main goals, tasks and solutions in Vietnam's socio-economic development in 2025 and the coming time for Vietnam to catch up, progress together and surpass, the Prime Minister emphasized that the construction and development of regional and international financial centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang will create a premise and a solid foundation for the country to enter a new era, an era of rising up, becoming a rich and prosperous nation and the people are increasingly happy and prosperous.

Vietnam has all 5 factors to build and develop an international financial center.

In the past, Vietnam's total social investment reached 33-35% of GDP, but in the coming time, this figure must reach 45-50% of total GDP, equivalent to 4-5 million billion VND. The Prime Minister said that Vietnam's capital market is developing rapidly in both breadth and depth.

The stock market continues to be an important capital transmission channel in the market, maintaining growth momentum compared to 2023.

According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vietnam meets all five conditions to build an international financial center. Vietnam has the 33rd largest economy in the world; high and stable economic growth rate; Vietnam is implementing three strategic breakthroughs and achieving positive results; the fastest growth rate of the stock market in the region, with a stock market capitalization of VND7.2 trillion; deep international economic integration, with an openness 1.7 times higher than the total GDP; political stability, social order and safety, maintaining a peaceful, cooperative and developing environment, and having a favorable location.

The Prime Minister said that building international financial centers will help Vietnam connect to the global financial market; attract foreign financial institutions, create new resources, promote existing resources; take advantage of opportunities to shift international investment capital flows for socio-economic development; promote the development of Vietnam's financial market effectively, according to international standards; create new momentum, and create breakthroughs in development.

The Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to consult with the Government to develop and submit to the National Assembly for consideration mechanisms and policies for international financial centers; implement the Vietnamization of the world's best in this field; focus on training and attracting human resources; develop and ensure synchronous, modern and high-quality infrastructure; apply advanced management science and technology; create consensus and unity of the entire political system and the entire population and enterprises in building and developing international financial centers in Vietnam, in the spirit of "learning from experience while doing, expanding gradually, not being perfectionist, not being hasty."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang to urgently review, research and propose effective and feasible tasks and solutions in line with the policy groups in the Project, ensuring synchronization, comprehensiveness and consistency in goals and requirements; strengthen exchanges, continue to maintain and expand cooperation with domestic and international partners in the financial sector in the process of building and developing new financial services and products, building outstanding mechanisms, policies and incentives; proactively allocate budgets and mobilize domestic and foreign resources to invest in developing infrastructure to serve the operations of the financial center.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, branches and central agencies to seriously and resolutely implement the assigned tasks according to the Action Plan issued by the Government; research, deploy, develop and perfect institutions and policies on financial centers as assigned in the Action Plan, in the spirit of "clear people, clear work, clear time, clear responsibility, clear results."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes that domestic and international partners will continue to accompany the Vietnamese Government in the process of building and developing the financial center; propose and consult policies based on the experience of established international financial centers in the world, especially those with similar conditions; support in attracting resources, connecting large and potential investors to participate in the financial center in Vietnam.

Emphasizing the viewpoint that "The Party has directed, the Government has agreed, the National Assembly has agreed, the people have supported, the Fatherland has expected, then only discuss and do, not retreat" and the spirit of "not saying no, not saying difficult, not saying yes but not doing", the Prime Minister said that the construction of a regional and international Financial Center in Vietnam is an urgent requirement, receiving great attention from the leaders of the Party, State and Government; it is the work of the entire Party, the entire political system, the entire people, and businesses with the cooperation and support of international friends.

With the motto of “listening and understanding together; sharing vision and action together; working together, enjoying together, winning together and developing together”, the Prime Minister believes that Vietnam will achieve success in building and developing a regional and international financial center, contributing to the common development and prosperity of the region and the world.