Attracting investment capital, building a modern financial center
On the afternoon of April 3, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance, Minister Nguyen Van Thang had a meeting and working with Mr. Bill Winter - General Director of Standard Chartered Group. Also attending were Ms. Nguyen Thuy Hanh - General Director of Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam and representatives of functional units under the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized the strong cooperative relationship between the Ministry of Finance and Standard Chartered Bank in recent times. The Minister said that Standard Chartered's award of a Certificate of Merit in March 2024 is a specific recognition of the bank's contributions to promoting financial cooperation between the two sides.
Talking about the macroeconomic situation, the Minister said that Vietnam is maintaining economic stability, good control of inflation, positive growth, fiscal and monetary indicators all show positive prospects. The average CPI in the first 2 months increased by 3.27% over the same period last year; State budget revenue reached 25.4% of the estimate, up 25.7%. The money market is stable, the loan interest rate continues to decrease, the liquidity of the banking system is guaranteed.
Notably, foreign investment capital continues to flow strongly into Vietnam. In 2024, realized FDI capital reached a record of 25.35 billion USD, up 9.4% over the previous year. In just the first 2 months of 2025, Vietnam has attracted 4.33 billion USD in registered FDI capital, up 48.6%. The Minister said that Vietnam will prioritize attracting investment in the fields of high technology, innovation, digital economy, green economy - key sectors towards sustainable development.
At the meeting, the minister suggested that Standard Chartered Group continue to promote its strengths in connecting international investors and corporations to Vietnam, especially in the above-mentioned fields. At the same time, the bank needs to coordinate in organizing forums and dialogues with the international investor community, creating conditions for information exchange and removing obstacles in administrative procedures.
Towards a transparent and modern capital market
Referring to indirect investment capital flows (FII), Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that FII plays an important role in supplementing investment capital, improving payment balance, promoting liquidity and increasing the scale of the financial market. The participation of foreign investors has helped Vietnams stock market become more vibrant, supporting the development of a sustainable financial system, said the minister.
The Ministry of Finance is synchronously implementing solutions to improve the investment environment: promote private investment, reform institutions, perfect legal regulations on the capital market, intermediary financial institutions and the legal framework for FDI. One of the major goals in 2025 is to upgrade the Vietnamese stock market from frontier to emerging - a factor that will open up more room for global FII capital flows.
In that context, the minister hopes that Standard Chartered - with extensive international experience - can share models and experiences in operating regional financial centers, supporting Vietnam in building and developing a modern International Financial Center (IFC), capable of deeply connecting with the global financial system.
In addition, the minister suggested that Standard Chartered continue to accompany in national credit rating, macro-finance policy consulting, as well as training to improve the capacity of financial sector officials.
Standard Chartered affirms its desire to long-term accompany Vietnam
Speaking at the meeting, General Director of Standard Chartered Bill Winter Group expressed his gratitude to Minister Nguyen Van Thang for his warm welcome and comprehensive sharing of the economic situation in Vietnam. He expressed his impression of the achievements Vietnam has achieved, especially in the context of many fluctuations in the global economy.
Mr. Bill Winter affirmed that Standard Chartered Group is committed to long-term companionship in Vietnam, continuing to support international investor connectivity, promoting sustainable investment and extensive cooperation with the Ministry of Finance in many strategic areas. He said that Standard Chartered highly appreciates the development potential of the Vietnamese financial market and is ready to share experiences from global financial centers to support Vietnam in realizing its ambition to become an international financial center in the region.
In this field, Standard Chartered Bank has had a lot of experience operating at many major international financial centers such as: London, NewYord, Dubai, India... Therefore, we have very clear ideas on how to do so so that these international financial centers can operate effectively and continuously develop. We hope to continue cooperation with Vietnam in this field in the coming time - General Director Bill Winter emphasized.
