A range of participants attended: His Excellency Iain Frew, the British Ambassador to Vietnam; Ms Vũ Minh Châu, Acting Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation at the State Bank of Vietnam; Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng, Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of VNBA; together with many economy experts, fintech and financial-technology firms, and credit institutions.
Strengthening financial cooperation under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
UK.Ambassador Iain Frew
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Iain Frew expressed his pleasure at joining Vietnamese partners and highly valued the close coordination between VNBA and the State Bank of Vietnam in organizing the summit.
He emphasised that this Summit is not just a forum for dialogue, but a demonstration of the strong growth-oriented cooperation between the two countries.
Ambassador Frew recalled the official visit of Mr. Tô Lâm (General Secretary of Vietnam) to London at the end of October, during which the two countries agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
He said: “This new partnership promises to broaden cooperation in the financial sphere — where innovation, transparency and global integration are the keys to development.”
He added that the UK Government is committed to supporting Vietnam in developing international financial centres (IFCs) and modernising its banking and financial markets. He particularly welcomed Vietnam’s ambition to build IFCs in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, considering them strategic priorities for the Vietnamese Government.
“The United Kingdom, as a global financial centre, stands ready to share its experience in regulatory reform, fintech development, green finance and digital transformation — contributing to Vietnam’s goal of becoming a high-income economy by 2045.” He also emphasised the role of British companies such as Prudential plc, HSBC Holdings plc, Standard Chartered PLC, Revolut Ltd, Ozone API, iProov Ltd, Konsentus Ltd and Sumsub Ltd in accompanying Vietnam to build a financial ecosystem that is transparent, safe and innovative.
Vietnam – A new driver for digital finance and innovation
Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng (Vice-Chairman/Secretary-General of VNBA)
In his keynote remarks, Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng (Vice-Chairman/Secretary-General of VNBA) affirmed that technology is transforming the financial sector completely — generating a wide variety of digital financial products and services, and increasing accessibility to finance for all segments of society.
He reported that the Vietnamese banking sector is entering a phase of rapid digital acceleration, as reflected by impressive statistics:
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Over 95 % of transactions at large banks are now executed via digital channels.
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The e-wallet ecosystem has more than 40 million users.
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QR-code payments have become interoperable nationwide and are expanding cross-border (with Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and soon China, South Korea).
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Some 70 % of retail transactions are now conducted via digital channels — helping reduce banks’ operating costs by 20-30 %.
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Among adult population in Vietnam, 70 % have a financial account, and 62 % use digital payment services — reflecting strong growth of digital finance in daily life.
He pointed out that in the first nine months of 2025, cashless payments increased by 43.32 % in number and 24.23 % in value, compared with the same period in 2024.
“These results are creating a strong foundation for Vietnam’s digital inclusive finance agenda for the period 2025-2030,” Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng emphasised.
Digital trade finance — A strategic move for Vietnam
Despite these achievements, Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng also candidly pointed out the challenges: the legal framework has not kept pace with practice; customers’ increasing demands require large technology investments; and there are shortcomings in consumer protection and cybersecurity. Among these, the lack of transparency in data is a major barrier for SMEs to access financing.
To address this, VNBA, in cooperation with the State Bank of Vietnam, the UK Embassy and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), is implementing the Trade Finance Registry (TFR) — a national database on trade-finance.
The TFR aims to:
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Make the status of document-based trade finance transparent.
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Prevent fraudulent activity.
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Standardise e-commerce trade data.
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Connect APIs with banks, customs, and logistics.
Dr Nguyễn Quốc Hùng argued that with UK technical support and the determination of regulatory authorities, Vietnam can set a new standard for transparent trade financing in the region.
Vietnam-UK Cooperation: A driver for sustainable and inclusive growth
Ms Vũ Minh Châu (Acting Director-General, International Cooperation Department, SBV)
At the summit, Ms Vũ Minh Châu (Acting Director-General, International Cooperation Department, SBV) emphasised that Vietnam-UK cooperation in banking and finance has been in place since 2008 and continues to deepen.
She noted that the State Bank is now applying AI, Big Data, eKYC and intelligent supervision, and is implementing the TFR platform with support from the UK, BCG and VNBA in order to enhance transparency, reduce fraud and improve trade-finance efficiency.
“The United Kingdom is a leading world financial centre with deep experience in fintech, open banking and green finance. Vietnam wishes to continue deeper cooperation in this new phase.”
Dr Cấn Văn Lực (Chief Economist of Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)
At the conference, Dr Cấn Văn Lực (Chief Economist of Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and a member of the Prime Minister’s Policy Advisory Council) observed that the summit comes at a special “three-in-one” moment: the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership upgrade, the 5th anniversary of the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), and the UK’s entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans‑Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
He said Vietnam is at a “favourable inflection point” for economic development, but to achieve an average income of USD 23,000 by 2045, the country must accelerate digital transformation, institutional reform and deep international cooperation.
“If this opportunity is not seized, Vietnam could fall into the middle-income trap. The key lies in bold reform, sustainable development and international cooperation — particularly with the United Kingdom, a global financial centre.”
A “Golden opportunity” for Vietnam in the era of transparent, globalised finance
During the thematic panel discussions, specialists from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Traydstream Ltd, Techcombank, Standard Chartered and Ozone API emphasised that TFR is not just a technical solution, but the beginning of Vietnam’s globally-integrated modern financial ecosystem.
Mr Vincent Chin (BCG) estimated that if Vietnam were to narrow the USD 100 billion trade‐finance gap, GDP could increase by nearly 1%.
International experts also shared lessons from Singapore, the United Kingdom and Brazil on implementing sandboxes, API standards and mechanisms that encourage banks to share data safely — laying foundations for open banking and open finance.
Ms Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Nga (Techcombank) emphasised that when data is securely connected, banks, businesses and the economy all benefit.
Panel discussion
The speakers agreed that Vietnam now has a “golden opportunity” to leap forward, provided it effectively leverages three key factors: trusted data, strong security and effective public-private partnership. When data is shared under control and built on trust, the economy will grow faster, credit will expand and GDP growth will be more sustainable.
The Vietnam – UK Financial Services Summit concluded with a spirit of collaboration, innovation and strong commitment to action — aiming to build a transparent, safe and people-centred banking and financial ecosystem, contributing to a sustainable digital economy and deeper global integration.
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