Don't miss the opportunity to build a financial center

Make every effort to successfully implement the financial center

On the afternoon of March 28, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Conference on Building a Financial Center in Vietnam took place under the chairmanship of Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang and Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - delivered the opening speech at the conference.

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc assessed that the central government's selection of Ho Chi Minh City as the location for the comprehensive international financial center is a great honor, and at the same time a heavy responsibility that the Party Committee, government and people of the city will make every effort to successfully carry out.

A financial center is not only a place where large capital flows converge, but also a strategic driving force to promote innovation, develop high technology, improve governance capacity, increase competitiveness and national integration. This is an opportunity to improve the efficiency of resource allocation, expand access to capital for businesses, develop infrastructure and affirm Vietnam's position in the global trade finance network.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, regarding objective factors and preparations up to this point, Ho Chi Minh City is a place with many favorable conditions to take on the role of "locomotive" in the strategy of building a financial center for 4 reasons.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Minister of Finance spoke at the conference.

Firstly, Ho Chi Minh City has a dynamic economic foundation and is deeply integrated into the international community. The city contributes about 15.5% of the country's GDP, accounting for more than 25.3% of the total national budget revenue and nearly 11.3% of the country's import-export turnover. This is the largest commercial - service - financial center in Vietnam, where many banks, credit institutions, securities companies, fund management companies, and large domestic and foreign investors are headquartered.

Second, in Ho Chi Minh City, the basic institutions for the modern financial market, including the stock market, capital market, payment centers, digital banking infrastructure and financial technology applications have been systematically operated. Most recently, Vietnam has researched and proposed applying a sandbox mechanism, piloting fintech activities and digital transformation initiatives to facilitate investment funds to access and incubate breakthrough innovative technology projects.

Third, Ho Chi Minh City has a strategic geographical location and the financial market in the city has close connections with major financial centers in the region such as Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Shanghai, Tokyo... through investment and trade activities. Tan Son Nhat International Airport and in the future Long Thanh Airport along with large surrounding seaports create favorable conditions for the development of a global financial ecosystem.

Fourth , political determination and clear strategic direction from the central to local levels, identifying the development of Ho Chi Minh City into an international financial center as a strategic task. The city is always active in improving the investment environment, perfecting institutions, removing legal barriers, and at the same time, developing digital infrastructure and financial technology. These are concrete steps to enhance global competitiveness.

Special advantages to form a financial center

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang emphasized that the world is going through an era of many changes: geopolitical competition, climate change, supply chain crisis, epidemics, armed conflicts, and economic fragmentation. In addition, the remarkable development of science and technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence AI, blockchain, etc. is causing the global financial order to constantly change.

In that context, global financial centers are also strongly restructuring, from simply providing capital services to becoming a convergence of innovation, financial technology (fintech), green finance and niche market-specific products.

Delegates discussed at the conference.

In Asia - the most dynamically developing region in the world today - new financial centers have emerged and formed such as Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta. Vietnam - with its important geopolitical position, stable macro-economy and increasingly improving investment environment - is facing a "golden opportunity" to participate and position its role and position in the chain of global financial centers. Specifically:

Firstly, Vietnam is recognized as a bright spot in growth in the region and the world. In 2024, GDP will reach 7.09%, among the highest in the region and the world; the macro economy will be stable, inflation will be controlled below 4%; import and export will reach a record level of 786.29 billion USD; FDI will attract more than 38 billion USD - among the top 15 countries attracting the most FDI globally...

Second , Vietnam has some unique advantages to form a financial center. Specifically: International strategic location between the sea routes from North to South, from East to West, the center of Southeast Asia; time zone difference with 21 largest financial centers in the world, convenient to attract idle capital during trading breaks; is one of the leading markets in the rate of application of future financial technologies.

Third , in recent years, Ho Chi Minh City has been included in the official list of emerging global financial centers; meanwhile, Da Nang City is also emerging as a potential regional financial-technology center.

According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, building a financial center is not a new concept in the world, but for Vietnam, this is a new and unprecedented issue. Vietnam will learn from experience as it goes, not being hasty but also not being perfectionist, lest it misses the opportunity.

“With the strong and decisive direction of the Politburo, General Secretary To Lam, the Government, the Prime Minister, the joint efforts of ministries, branches, localities, the cooperation of the international community and businesses, I believe that Vietnam will successfully build a modern and world-class financial center, contributing to the stable and sustainable development of the region and the world,” Minister Nguyen Van Thang shared.

Building a financial center in Vietnam with its own identity

In the discussion and sharing of experiences on developing financial centers in the world, Mr. Andrew Oldland - Head of the working group on international financial centers, TheCityUk Organization - said that one of the important things is that Vietnam needs to adjust the model of building a financial center to suit the domestic context. His research group has helped build reports to implement a financial center in Vietnam such as building infrastructure, establishing a financial center management agency, and needing a mechanism to control free cash flows...

The working group also helped Vietnam assess how its economy differs from other economies that have established financial centers. In addition, it clearly identified innovation trends in financial centers, differences in financial trends compared to some countries that have established financial centers, and how to promote green finance...

Dr. Kuang Qu - Deputy General Manager of Planning and Development and Director of Sustainable Development Strategy (Bank of China) - mentioned that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has some more open mechanisms to facilitate international transactions. This is an important experience to suggest to Vietnam.

Further discussing in the discussion section, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said that building a financial center in Vietnam needs to have its own identity, different from any other country.

“We are considering researching the construction of an international financial center with its own identity, taking advantage of comparative advantages in economics, society and geopolitics. Different from the traditional model, we prioritize the application of modern technologies such as fintech, blockchain, green finance...” , Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc shared.

According to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Vietnam has strongly integrated into the international economy, signed 17 FTAs ​​with partners around the world, this is an opportunity for Vietnam to develop special types of finance "trade finance". Vietnam also has favorable conditions to build a financial center based on the export of agricultural products and traditional goods; it is possible to build commodity exchanges based on blockchain.

“It is necessary to conduct research to differentiate Vietnam's financial center and also complement other financial centers in the region ,” the Deputy Minister of Finance emphasized.

The development of an international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City will not only bring practical socio-economic benefits to the city and the country, but also create a ripple effect to neighboring cities and the Southeast Asian region. This will be the foundation for Ho Chi Minh City to improve its urban management capacity, develop sustainably and expand comprehensive cooperation with global partners.

Ngan Nga

Source: https://congthuong.vn/khong-de-lo-mat-thoi-co-xay-dung-trung-tam-tai-chinh-380464.html