Australia fund Sapien debuts in Vietnam, to invest $68 mln yearly

Sapien Group, an Australia-based financial services group, launched its Vietnam chapter on Thursday, with a strategy to invest at least A$100 million ($67.8 million) in the Southeast Asian country annually.

The Vietnamese unit eyes to aid small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost production, job creation, and incomes.

Sapien Ventures, under Sapien Group, will focus its investments in startups related to fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), big data. Sapien Capital Partner, another unit under the same roof, will invest in education, high-tech agriculture, and renewable energy.

Sapien Group also established Sapien Finance which will offer loans to students studying abroad with low interest rates, financial businesses, and SMEs.

The Australian business targets to invest in five major localities in Vietnam in 2023 and then extend the network to 20 provinces and cities in 2028.

Australia is the 20th-biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with 583 projects and the total registered capital of $1.98 billion as of end-November, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. In the first 11 months of this year, Australia's registered investment capital in Vietnam reached $68.36 million.