It is essential to leverage Vietnam's strengths and opportunities in the region to develop a regional financial centre in the central city of Da Nang that stands out from others globally, according to Andy Khoo, from Terne Holdings of Singapore.

The Politburo has given the green light for a project to develop a regional financial centre in Da Nang and assigned relevant agencies to develop a special policy framework.

Andy said the centre should focus on green finance, FinTech innovation, and trade finance, adding that operating in English is essential to ensure trust among international investors.

According to the expert, Vietnam’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, combined with ASEAN’s 1-trillion-USD green finance demand by 2030, presents incredible opportunities.

The Da Nang centre can lead the way in this area by issuing green bonds, facilitating the trading of carbon credits, and developing financial products tailored to sustainability-minded investors, he said.

FinTech is revolutionising global finance, so Da Nang needs to have policies to encourage innovation and mechanisms like a sandbox for startups in the fields of blockchain, digital payments, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), Andy went on.

Sharing Andy’s opinion, Phan Duc Trung, President of the Vietnam Blockchain Association (VBA), held that the centre should focus on FinTech, specifically developing payment technology, insurance technology, compliance technology, asset management, cybersecurity, and blockchain, in parallel with green and circular economy models based on ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) criteria.

To realise this orientation, Trung recommended that Da Nang should concentrate on ensuring sustainable development by integrating new and old economic activities within its special mechanisms, avoiding reliance on a single mechanism; and putting into place key initiatives such as experimenting with cryptocurrency asset transactions, carbon exchange platforms, and data exchange platforms.

Dr. Andreas Baumgartner, CEO and founder of The Metis Institute, said such centre must have a strong, transparent, and reliable governance and legal system.

According Andy, by combining the development of talent with an independent legal system, Vietnam would develop a financial centre that meets the future's demands. This includes governance aligned with international standards, which will create an ecosystem where businesses thrive and investors feel secure. In doing so, the Da Nang centre will become a hub of innovation and stability, driving sustainable development for the region and the world./.