Da Nang (VNA) – From its inception, the Vietnam International Financial Centre in Da Nang (VIFC-DN) has been designed as a new-generation international financial centre, rather than one seeking to compete directly with major regional hubs in terms of market size.
Instead, it aims to develop sectors with distinct competitive advantages and strong links to emerging growth areas, connecting international capital with projects, businesses and investment opportunities in Da Nang, the central region and Vietnam as a whole.
Dang Dinh Duc, Standing Vice Chairman of the VIFC-DN Executive Agency, said Da Nang has developed three plans for developing key products during the centre’s initial phase. These include mobilising foreign investment for development by attracting asset management companies and investment funds to VIFC-DN; establishing and piloting a commodity exchange; and piloting a voluntary carbon credit trading platform for international transactions linked to environmental assets and climate finance instruments.
In recent months, VIFC-DN has held discussions with fund management organisations, asset managers, foreign sovereign wealth funds and foreign banks interested in providing fund custody and asset safekeeping services. These engagements aim to secure the necessary conditions for project implementation and obtain concrete commitments.
Through asset management companies and investment funds, VIFC-DN aims to mobilise and disburse international capital for key infrastructure projects in Da Nang and across Vietnam, as well as large-scale private-sector projects in energy, ports and logistics, digital infrastructure, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, financial technology and supply chain finance linked to the Da Nang Free Trade Zone.
At the same time, Duc noted, VIFC-DN has consulted relevant partners, importers, exporters, and localities with abundant raw materials on plans to establish a commodity exchange at the centre. The proposed exchange will initially facilitate physical trading, either on the spot market or through registered forward contracts, in products such as Robusta coffee, pepper and wood pellets.
VIFC-DN is also gradually studying and finalising the conditions needed to expand trading to strategic commodities, including rubber, rice, cashew nuts and cocoa, as well as high-value Vietnamese speciality products such as Ngoc Linh ginseng and edible bird’s nests, once all regulatory requirements are met, he went on.
Beyond mobilising capital, VIFC-DN also aims to become a hub for structuring and channelling financial flows to support Vietnam’s green transition, the official said, adding that it is working with partners to study a pilot programme for developing environmental assets in Da Nang, with plans to expand it across the Central Highlands and central regions, which boast substantial forest resources and renewable energy potential.
The centre is also developing plans to establish a carbon credit exchange, focusing on two priority product groups: voluntary carbon credits and carbon removal credits.
Going forward, VIFC-DN will continue submitting proposals to relevant authorities for new policy mechanisms needed to develop the international financial centre. It will also proactively attract reputable domestic and international fund management companies and partner banks to participate in priority sectors.
In addition, VIFC-DN will also develop commodity markets linked to trade and supply chain finance, pilot carbon credit projects of an appropriate scale to facilitate transactions involving investors, international registries and major global buyers, and establish the legal framework and technical infrastructure for a regulatory sandbox for asset tokenisation, according to the Standing Vice Chairman./.