Ho Chi Minh City’s international financial centre should complement the regional network rather than directly compete with Singapore and Hong Kong, according to IIF Asia-Pacific representative Ashley Zhang. VnExpress reported her comments at the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 Summit on November 3.
A centre within a wider network
Zhang identified attracting global capital, connecting regional markets and filling currency gaps as core functions. Financial centres cannot operate in isolation, she argued.
Her proposal for VIFC-HCMC emphasises easier regional access to capital, multicurrency structures, payment infrastructure and risk-management tools. It is an expert recommendation, not a newly announced binding policy.
The report describes IIF as representing around 400 banks, investment institutions and asset managers across more than 60 countries. The discussion therefore concerns how the centre could participate in cross-market financial connections.
Services depend on legal readiness
VIFC-HCMC executive director Richard D. McClellan said the centre aims to bridge domestic mechanisms and international standards. Individual services will open as their corresponding legal infrastructure is completed.
The centre has 10 members, and the city plans procedures for receiving investment funds in November. McClellan’s five-to-ten-year vision of handling hundreds of billions of dollars is an ambition, not capital already attracted.
Other participants stressed corporate governance, transparency, disclosure and implementation of investor mechanisms. The next tasks are the procedures and regulations enabling particular services. Their execution will determine how the proposed regional role translates into actual capital connections.