HCMC – The Vietnam International Financial Center in HCMC (VIFC-HCMC) began operations today, February 11, with 13 founding and strategic members and billions of dollars in committed capital.
The center has seven founding members and six strategic members. Early commitments exceed US$9 billion across aviation finance, smart urban infrastructure and an on-chain economy fund.
The seven founding members are Sovico Group, MB, TPBank, SHB, Son Kim Capital, VinaCapital and Nasdaq.
The six strategic members are Nam A Bank, the HCMC Finance and Investment State-owned Company, the University of Economics HCMC, the On-chain Economy Alliance, Gemadept and TikTok.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh described the launch as a strategic step amid shifting global capital flows and the restructuring of the world economy. He called the center a form of “soft infrastructure” to allocate resources, provide modern financial tools and enhance national competitiveness.
He emphasized the need for open institutions, synchronized infrastructure and smart governance, with policies shaped by practical demands.
Nguyen Van Duoc, chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, said VIFC-HCMC is designed as a platform linking Vietnam’s financial market with regional and international markets. The center is expected to serve infrastructure, industry, logistics, green transition, innovation and smart urban development.
According to initial reports released at the ceremony, an aviation finance center has secured US$6.1 billion in pledged capital. A maritime finance center has also been established to support trade finance and logistics.
The center has mobilized US$2 billion for smart urban data infrastructure and financial programs. In addition, a US$1 billion investment fund for the city’s on-chain economy has been set up, focusing on blockchain, asset tokenization and digital finance models.
Cross-border transactions are expected to be conducted through the center’s interbank financial system in the coming period.
Don Lam, co-founder and CEO of VinaCapital, said that the center does not aim to compete with existing regional financial hubs but to meet Vietnam’s specific capital needs. He identified two pillars: traditional financial services such as banking, investment funds and trade finance, and emerging areas including tokenized financial products, green securitization, commodity exchanges, blockchain, digital payments and digital assets.
At the launch, the center outlined its development pillars, including aviation and maritime finance, a commodity exchange and high-tech clearing center, a fintech and digital banking ecosystem, a green and sustainable finance value chain, and modern financial market infrastructure aligned with international exchanges.
