Danang city signs MoU with Frankfurt Main Finance on international financial center development

Danang city, an economic hub of central Vietnam, on Tuesday signed an MoU with Frankfurt Main Finance on cooperation in developing a financial international center.

Accordingly, the two sides will jointly invite major German investors to participate in building the center, with a focus on blockchain, green finance, and digital finance.

Vietnam is developing an international financial center, located both in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of a conference held in Frankfurt by Vietnamese authorities to call for investments in the international financial center. The event was chaired by Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, with the participation of international financial institutions.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Quoc Phuong presented Vietnam’s key financial policy messages in the context of the world having established many international financial centers.

He said the country is committed to opening its market widely to financial institutions, enhancing human resource training, protecting investors’ rights, and seizing opportunities to rapidly develop the financial center - a relatively new model for the country.

Chairman of the Danang People’s Committee Pham Duc An gave an update on the city’s preparations for the mission, focusing on areas including fintech, cross-border trade finance, and support for startups.

An noted that Danang has been formulating policies, upgrading infrastructure, developing a sustainable ecosystem for the financial center, building data centers, improving airport and seaport infrastructure, establishing free trade zones, training human resources in international finance, and piloting financial center management operations.

“We are committed to accompanying investors coming to Danang to jointly build a modern, innovative, and reliable financial center in the Asia-Pacific region,” An emphasized.

Delegates also discussed opportunities with German partners; new technologies such as blockchain, digital finance, and green finance; as well as policy frameworks to attract investment and foster cooperation between international financial institutions and Vietnamese banks.

Frankfurt, known as the financial "heart" of Germany, is a positive model for Vietnam to learn from, based on three key pillars: legal framework, infrastructure, and human resources,. Germany also has goodwill in strengthening cooperation with Vietnam.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh praised Danang and Ho Chi Minh City for promptly implementing preparatory work following the Prime Minister’s decision to establish the center.

He proposed a cooperation program between Frankfurt’s financial center and the two Vietnamese cities, based on mutual benefits. They will jointly call for German investors to collaborate with Vietnam in promising fields such as digital finance and green finance.

Within the framework of the conference, Chairman of Danang Pham Duc An signed an MoU on cooperation for the financial center with Frankfurt Main Finance.

Earlier, on Monday, Chairman of the Danang People’s Council Nguyen Duc Dung, Chairman of the Danang People’s Committee Pham Duc An, and Vice Chairman Tran Nam Hung attended the Annual General Meeting of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt Main Finance was founded in 2008 as the voice of the financial center Frankfurt in Germany and the Eurozone. It has more than 75 members, including the state of Hesse, the cities of Frankfurt and neighbouring Eschborn and Offenbach, numerous well known financial market players and their service providers, as well as private and public universities and research institutions.