Investors ‘wait and watch’ before pouring money into the financial center

Comments were made at the Vietnam International Financial Center (VIFC) 2026 conference, May 29. Mr. Nguyen Manh Khoi, General Director of Koru Capital, said VIFC has attracted the attention of investors.

“They have some interest but are waiting to evaluate whether VIFC can solve the bottlenecks that other centers have not been able to do,” he said.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Truong Nhat Quang, CEO of YKVN law firm, said that VIFC is highly appreciated for simplifying procedures for opening legal entities (except for complex areas such as banking). Investors also see more advantages in the investment process and capital flow, but “still have reservations”.

The international financial center in Vietnam was established according to the Resolution of the National Assembly dated June 27, 2025, with the “one center, two destinations” model, located in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The centers in both cities officially operated from the beginning of this year.

Experts say that the wait-and-see mentality comes from foreign investors wanting more time to learn, as well as realize the maturity of VIFC’s model, ecosystem, and specific products.

The question is whether Vietnam wants VIFC to become a Singapore-style capital transit center or serve large domestic markets such as Hong Kong providing services to the Chinese economy, Dubai serving the super-rich in the Middle East.

“The first choice of investors in the region is Singapore,” Mr. Quang said. The advantage of this island nation is that the financial center ecosystem is complete while Vietnam is still in its infancy. In particular, the judicial system applying common law, courts, and international arbitration are not ready. “Investors are interested in the specific roadmap for when these systems will operate,” he added.

Regarding products, Mr. Tran Anh Duc, Senior Partner Lawyer A&O Shearman, for example, derivative financial products or securitization are very popular in foreign financial centers, but are currently unclear in Vietnamese law.

Another issue causing concern is the ability to connect capital between VIFC and the domestic market. Accordingly, capital flows only freely move between members of the Center, it is not convenient to enter Vietnam. This means that international investors do not necessarily “go indirectly” through VIFC to pour capital into Vietnam.

As for domestic enterprises that establish subsidiaries at VIFC, when they successfully mobilize and want to lend back to the parent company, they will be considered borrowing from abroad, subject to many complicated procedures, according to Mr. Tran Anh Duc.

At the conference, Mr. Hoang Huy Truong, Head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam International Financial Center’s Executive Agency in Ho Chi Minh City, said VIFC aims to become a gateway connecting international capital flows with Vietnam through 4 pillars. These pillars include international capital markets, finance serving international trade, digital banking – fintech and green finance, niche financial products.

In the most recent ranking of the Global Financial Center Index, Ho Chi Minh City increased 11 places, to 84th out of 120 cities, surpassing Jakarta (ranked 86th) into the top 3 in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore (ranked 4th) and Kuala Lumpur (ranked 42nd).

To strengthen investor confidence, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Chairman of the Vietnam Lawyers Association (VLA), recommended completing a transparent legal framework and effective dispute resolution mechanism. This is even more necessary in the context of digital financial models, digital assets and cross-border transactions giving rise to many new types of disputes with more complex structures.

Mr. Hoang Huy Truong proposed building an effective coordination mechanism between specialized courts, international arbitration centers under VIFC, judgment enforcement agencies, management agencies and support institutions such as conciliation, expertise, financial and technology experts.

In the long term, Mr. Phung Anh Tuan, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Financial Investors Association, believes that VIFC should be considered a “giant sandbox” or “institutional laboratory” to learn best international practices and then widely apply them to the entire Vietnamese economy.

“We need a different mindset, the Center should not be managed like a normal ‘market’ but create favorable conditions to attract indirect investment (FII),” Mr. Tuan added.