Ho Chi Minh City will begin construction of a long-planned international financial centre (IFC) in September, part of Vietnam’s push to position itself as a regional financial hub alongside Singapore and Hong Kong.

A view of Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Thu Duc city seen from downtown District 1. HCM City will begin construction of a seven-billion-USD IFC this month.

The municipal government said it is accelerating procedures so work can start on the first phase of the project, which will anchor Vietnam’s financial ambitions in both HCM City and Da Nang.

The plan follows a resolution passed by the National Assembly in June with overwhelming support.

The IFC in HCM City will cover 783ha across downtown Ben Thanh ward and the Thu Thiem New Urban Area. A 9.2-ha “core zone” in Thu Thiem will be built first, housing financial regulators, supervisory bodies and specialised courts.

Total investment is estimated at 172 trillion VND (7 billion USD).

About 16 trillion VND will be spent in the first two to three years, including 2 trillion VND from the State budget to build offices for government agencies, with the rest expected from domestic and foreign strategic investors.

Under the plan, HCM City’s IFC will focus on banking, asset management, capital markets, fintech and derivatives trading. Da Nang will specialise in green finance, digital financial services and controlled pilot projects in crypto-assets.

The Government aims for the HCM City centre to begin operations in 2025 and be completed within five years, in what officials describe as a "cornerstone of Vietnam’s economic modernisation strategy".

Vietnam has debated the creation of an international financial hub for more than a decade, but earlier efforts stalled due to unclear regulations and competition from established regional centres.

HCM City, which generates nearly a quarter of Vietnam’s GDP, has long been seen as the most suitable location given its fast-growing middle class, expanding banking sector, and status as the country’s commercial capital.

HCM City already hosts the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the country’s largest equities market, but foreign participation remains limited by ownership caps and underdeveloped capital markets.

Officials hope that a dedicated financial centre with clearer rules, sandbox regimes for fintech, and incentives for foreign investors will help attract global banks, funds and insurers.

Analysts note that while the ambition is bold, Vietnam will face stiff competition from Singapore and Hong Kong, both of which are deeply entrenched as Asia’s financial gateways.

Success will depend on whether the nation can deliver regulatory reforms, deepen its capital markets, and build trust with international investors, they add.

Nearly 470 billion USD to fund rural development, poverty reduction in 2026–2035

Funding will come from the central budget, local budgets, capital from national and local programmes, credit, businesses' support, and contributions by people.

 

Bac Ninh’s master plan and general urban planning required to create breakthroughs in development space

BAC NINH- Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee (PPC) Vuong Quoc Tuan on August 25 chaired a conference on implementing the formulation of the master plan of Bac Ninh province for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 and general urban planning of Bac Ninh province (after the merger).

Bac Ninh launches Student Skills Training and Development Center project

BAC NINH– Bac Ninh province on August 19 launched a project to build a Student Training and Skills Development Center, underscoring the province’s ambition to integrate modern education with cultural preservation and workforce development.

PM chairs national online conference on social housing development

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a national online conference on August 16 to review the implementation of social housing development targets in the first seven months of 2025 and deploy tasks for the remaining months to achieve the goal of building 100,000 social housing apartments this year; as well as implementing social housing development targets in the following years.

 

Minister urges priority to citizen-centric smart city development

Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh recalled that in 2018, the Prime Minister approved a decision setting the first milestone for sustainable smart urban development nationwide. Nearly seven years on, the scheme has produced notable initial results.

 

Positive developments highlight Viet Nam’s labour market in early 2025

Viet Nam’s labour market in the first half of 2025 has shown several encouraging signs, according to the General Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance.