\u0110\u1ecdc b\u1ea3n ti\u1ebfng Vi\u1ec7t: Trung t\u00e2m T\u00e0i ch\u00ednh Qu\u1ed1c t\u1ebf Vi\u1ec7t Nam (VIFC): \u0110i\u1ec1u g\u00ec thay \u0111\u1ed5i trong n\u0103m 2026?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Vietnam International Financial Centre (VIFC) is Vietnam's state-backed project to build an internationally recognized financial hub, launched officially on December 19, 2025 (Vietnam News, December 2025). Its legal foundation is Resolution No. 222\/2025\/QH15, passed by the National Assembly of Vietnam (the country's highest legislative body) on June 27, 2025 and effective from September 1, 2025 (LuatVietnam). The VIFC follows a \"one centre, two destinations\" model: a single legal framework operating across Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Da Nang.<\/p>\n The project drew international attention early: HCMC presented the VIFC at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos in January 2026 (VietnamPlus, January 2026), and media platforms such as Vietcetera's Vietnam Innovators Digest, hosted by Hao Tran, have covered the centre's rollout for the startup and investment community. The strategy positions Vietnam against established regional hubs by focusing on smart, digital, and green finance rather than competing head-on with Singapore's full-service model.<\/p>\n Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15 packages tax, currency, and labor incentives that are unusually aggressive for Vietnam. The headline items, as analyzed by EY Vietnam (January 2026) and Acclime Vietnam (2025), are:<\/p>\n Taken together, these incentives signal that Vietnam wants asset managers, fintechs, and digital asset firms to register inside the Vietnam International Financial Centre perimeter rather than serve Vietnam from Singapore.<\/p>\n The two destinations have deliberately distinct mandates. HCMC is the large-scale financial gateway: capital markets, banking, fund management, and global capital connectivity. Da Nang is the innovation-driven hub: fintech, wealth management, and green finance (Vietnam News, December 2025).<\/p>\n The split matters for any firm planning market entry. A securities firm or custodian bank belongs in HCMC. A robo-advisory, digital wealth, or green finance startup maps naturally to Da Nang, where the priority-sector CIT incentives align with its mandate. Service providers, including data and verification vendors, will need to cover both.<\/p>\n Momentum is measurable. In the Global Financial Centres Index 39 (GFCI 39), the 2026 edition of the ranking published by Z\/Yen Group, a London-based commercial think tank, together with the China Development Institute, HCMC ranked 84th out of 120 financial centres worldwide, an 11-place climb compared with 2025 (VietnamPlus, 2026). Within ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), HCMC now ranks 3rd, behind Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and ahead of Bangkok and Jakarta.<\/p>\n The takeaway in one sentence: HCMC is still a frontier-tier financial centre, but it is the fastest-rising one in its regional peer group, and the VIFC framework is the main catalyst.<\/p>\n The rollout is entering its regulatory acceleration phase. On June 3, 2026, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung called for new regulations to be issued within June 2026 establishing breakthrough mechanisms for the rapid deployment of key financial products and services at the Vietnam International Financial Centre (VietnamPlus, June 3, 2026). This follows the January 2026 decree on financial policies for the centre analyzed by EY Vietnam and the entry-and-residence decree for foreign professionals reviewed by Baker McKenzie (January 2026).<\/p>\n For market participants, the practical reading is that the product-level rulebook (what can actually be traded, listed, and licensed inside the VIFC) is being written right now, in mid-2026. Firms that engage early get to shape and front-run that rulebook. Vietnam's regulatory cadence here mirrors the compliance wave we tracked in our review of the nine State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) circulars taking effect from May 2026<\/a>, where the SBV, Vietnam's central bank, compressed years of digital banking regulation into a single quarter.<\/p>\n Every firm that registers at the Vietnam International Financial Centre needs the same operational plumbing on day one, and most of it is data infrastructure:<\/p>\n The conclusion up front, not buried: the Vietnam International Financial Centre is a demand shock for verified Vietnamese data. The firms it attracts will not build Vietnamese data infrastructure themselves; they will buy it.<\/p>\n The build-out of the Vietnam International Financial Centre has moved unusually fast by Vietnamese legislative standards. The timeline below collects the dated milestones referenced throughout this article, each with its source.<\/p>\n The pattern in the timeline is consistent: roughly one major regulatory or operational step every quarter. If that cadence holds, the second half of 2026 should bring the first product licenses issued inside the Vietnam International Financial Centre perimeter, which is the moment early movers have been positioning for.<\/p>\n The Vietnam International Financial Centre is not trying to clone Singapore. Singapore remains the region's dominant full-service hub, and Kuala Lumpur holds second place in ASEAN in the Global Financial Centres Index 39 (VietnamPlus, 2026). Vietnam's positioning is deliberately narrower: smart finance, digital finance, and green finance, backed by cost advantages and the regulatory sandbox created by Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15 (ATA Legal, 2025).<\/p>\n Three differences matter in practice. First, incentives: a 10% corporate income tax rate for up to 30 years in priority sectors is materially deeper than standard regional offers (EY Vietnam, January 2026). Second, market access: the Vietnam International Financial Centre is the only gateway built directly on top of Vietnam's domestic growth story, where HCMC climbed 11 places in GFCI 39 to rank 84th of 120 centres (VietnamPlus, 2026).<\/p>\n Third, maturity: clearing, custody, and dispute-resolution track records are still being built, which is exactly why the June 2026 breakthrough regulations matter (VietnamPlus, June 3, 2026). Firms weighing Singapore against the Vietnam International Financial Centre are usually not choosing one or the other; they are deciding how early to establish a Vietnamese presence.<\/p>\n The practical checklist for the second half of 2026 looks like this:<\/p>\n For DataCore clients, the short version: the Vietnam International Financial Centre rewards firms that treat Vietnamese data readiness as a prerequisite, not an afterthought.<\/p>\n The Vietnam International Financial Centre was officially launched on December 19, 2025, operating in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang under Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15, which took effect on September 1, 2025 (Vietnam News, December 2025).<\/p>\n Priority-sector companies (fintech, digital assets, green finance) get a 10% corporate income tax rate for up to 30 years, with up to 4 years of exemption and 9 further years at a 50% reduction. Other sectors get 15% for up to 15 years. Qualified professionals pay no personal income tax on VIFC employment income until the end of 2030 (EY Vietnam, January 2026).<\/p>\n HCMC focuses on capital markets, banking, fund management, and global capital connectivity. Da Nang specializes in fintech, wealth management, and green finance (Vietnam News, December 2025).<\/p>\n In GFCI 39 (2026), HCMC ranked 84th of 120 centres globally, up 11 places from 2025, and 3rd in ASEAN behind Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (VietnamPlus, 2026).<\/p>\n Yes. Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15 explicitly contemplates 100% foreign-owned VIFC members and grants them exemptions from standard foreign exchange control procedures, alongside work permit exemptions for foreign professionals (Lexology, 2025; Baker McKenzie, January 2026).<\/p>\n Managers, experts, scientists, and highly skilled professionals working at the Vietnam International Financial Centre, both Vietnamese and foreign, are exempt from personal income tax on employment income earned at the centre until December 31, 2030 (EY Vietnam, January 2026).<\/p>\n Most fintechs map to Da Nang, whose mandate covers fintech, wealth management, and green finance, and where priority-sector tax incentives apply. Firms tied to capital markets, banking, or custody belong in HCMC (Vietnam News, December 2025).<\/p>\n Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15 allows approved pilots of business models not yet regulated under Vietnamese law inside the Vietnam International Financial Centre, with liability exemptions for those pilots, making it a testing ground for products that cannot yet launch elsewhere in Vietnam (ATA Legal, 2025).<\/p>\nTL;DR - Key takeaways<\/h2>\n
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![\"Vietnam](\"https:\/\/blog.datacore.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ho-chi-minh-city-financial-skyline-night.jpg\")
What is the Vietnam International Financial Centre?<\/h2>\n
What incentives does Resolution 222\/2025\/QH15 offer investors?<\/h2>\n
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How do the Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang hubs differ?<\/h2>\n
Where does Ho Chi Minh City rank among global financial centres?<\/h2>\n
What is happening with the Vietnam International Financial Centre in June 2026?<\/h2>\n
What does the Vietnam International Financial Centre mean for financial data and onboarding infrastructure?<\/h2>\n
![\"Market](\"https:\/\/blog.datacore.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/market-data-stock-exchange-display.jpg\")
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What are the key milestones of the Vietnam International Financial Centre so far?<\/h2>\n
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![\"Data](\"https:\/\/blog.datacore.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/data-center-servers-raw-data.jpg\")
How does the Vietnam International Financial Centre compare with Singapore and other ASEAN hubs?<\/h2>\n
![\"Trading](\"https:\/\/blog.datacore.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/stock-exchange-trading-floor-investment.jpg\")
What should banks, fintechs, and data teams do before the rulebook lands?<\/h2>\n
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Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
When did the Vietnam International Financial Centre officially launch?<\/h3>\n
What tax incentives do companies get inside the VIFC?<\/h3>\n
What is the difference between the HCMC and Da Nang hubs?<\/h3>\n
Where does Ho Chi Minh City rank in the Global Financial Centres Index?<\/h3>\n
Can foreign firms operate in the VIFC without a Vietnamese partner?<\/h3>\n
Who qualifies for the personal income tax exemption at the VIFC?<\/h3>\n
Should a fintech choose Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang?<\/h3>\n
What is the VIFC regulatory sandbox?<\/h3>\n
See also<\/h2>\n
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Sources<\/h2>\n
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