Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (R) and Ali Ijaz Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore-based Makara Capital, at their meeting in Hanoi on January 15. 2025. (Photo: VGP)

Deputy Prime Minister Son praised the effective business investment cooperation activities of the Makara Capital Group globally and in Vietnam in recent times.

He informed the guest that to prepare for a new development era - the era of the nation's rise, Vietnam defined solutions, including the establishment of regional and international financial centres. This is an urgent requirement and one of the particularly important projects for the coming year.

Vietnam has three growth poles - Hanoi in the Red River Delta, Da Nang in the central region, and Ho Chi Minh City in the South. These locations have attracted significant resources and major investors and financial groups to mobilise resources for Vietnam's economic development, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Son hoped Makara Capital will accompany Da Nang and Vietnam in the process of perfecting the institutional framework and developing the financial centres, including human resource development, investment attraction, connection with other financial centres in the region and the world, as well as attracting financial institutions.

Ali shared his interest in the Da Nang financial centre, believing that with its experience, the group can effectively support Vietnam in developing a financial centre model combined with innovation.

According to the CEO, Vietnam can learn from the financial centre models of Singapore, Dubai, and Kazakhstan.

He said the most important factor in establishing an international financial centre is the human resources, the quality of human resources, and their living and working conditions. Another important issue is building a legal system to facilitate the inflow and outflow of capital, ensuring capital recovery and safe cash flows.

Ali said this is an opportunity for Vietnam to experiment before scaling this model for the entire economy.

He also pointed out advantages for Vietnam in the next two years, affirming that he will send his top experts to Da Nang to support the city in realising the international financial centre project.

Appreciating the insights shared by the Makara Capital CEO, Deputy Prime Minister Son emphasised that the idea of establishing a financial centre combined with innovation is a very good one, and Da Nang is developing in that direction.

He hoped that the group, upon collaborating with Da Nang, will help this city build institutions and develop human resources.

Deputy Prime Minister Son expected Makara Capital will also help Da Nang to train human resources and connect it with other international financial centres in the region and around the world.

He noted that the Vietnamese Government is paying much attention to institutional perfection to create favourable conditions for investment cooperation.