A view of the banking strategies forum in Hanoi. (Source: VNA)

At a forum on strategies to bring Vietnam’s brands to the global stage and recommendations for the banking sector, held in Hanoi on May 5, Ha said the sector is pioneering in innovation, digital transformation and international integration. It has targeted improved competitiveness and developing strong banking brands to gradually reach regional and global levels, contributing to affirming the position and increasing the value of the national brands in the era of deep global integration.

According to Ha, under Decision No 986/QĐ-TTg, the Prime Minister has approved the Strategy for the Development of the Vietnamese Banking Industry, with a vision to 2030, which sets the goal of having between two and three Vietnamese commercial banks in the top one hundred banks with the largest brands in Asia.

This is a goal not only in terms of asset size, but also in affirming the prestige, brand and competitiveness of the Vietnamese banking system in the era of deep global integration.

“To meet the goal, the SBV has implemented synchronous solutions to improve financial capacity, standardise governance according to international practices, increase transparency and innovation, which are important foundations for building strong, professional and internationally competitive Vietnamese banking brands,” Ha said.

He said Vietnamese banks themselves have also proactively improved their image and position in the international arena. According to Brand Finance's 2025 rankings, 13 Vietnamese banks are now listed in the Top 500 banks with the highest brand value globally.

“This is a positive signal and at the same time, it also sets an increasingly high requirement for building strong and sustainable brands. Under the trend, learning from international experience, approaching modern brand management models and updating strategic thinking are extremely important. In the future, besides improving the legal framework, encouraging innovation, promoting digitalisation and enhancing competitiveness of banking activities, the SBV will continue to require banks to develop a systematic and long-term brand strategy," the Deputy Governor said.

Speaking at the event, Professor John A. Quelch, Vice President of Duke Kunshan University, said there are many initiatives that banks should take, especially in terms of investments in information technology, bank office efficiency and using AI for routine banking tasks. All of these kinds of innovations are absolutely necessary to advance the ability of the banking sector to contribute to economic growth and to maintain its competitiveness vis-à-vis the banking systems in other countries.

According to the professor, the Vietnamese banking sector has been pretty healthy in terms of the number of competitors in the marketplace, for example, and enabled consumers to have a wide degree of choice. With an economy of around about 600 billion USD in deposits, credit growth around 14%, inflation under 4% and stable exchange rate, the SBV has been a very good steward of the banking system. However, he noted, at the same time, there are clearly banks that are in difficulty.

“The number of banks in the Vietnamese market at the moment is pretty high, relative to the size of the economy. We should expect to see more merger and acquisition activity,” John suggested. He added that there are some excellent Japanese investments in banks in Vietnam, and those investors are pretty pleased and would like to further expand their stakes.

“So if the banking system is to retain its health, it needs to have more foreign direct investment coming in, needs to have more opportunities for merger and acquisition activity to occur to produce banks that are of a sufficient scale that they can intelligently and successfully invest in high-quality information technology and invest in going abroad. So the banking sector continues to evolve,” he said.