From Ambition to Investable Assets: Positioning Vietnam’s International Financial Centre as a Green Finance Hub

Vietnam requires approximately US$368 billion in additional climate investment through 2040, extending from green finance to transition finance for hard-to-abate sectors, climate adaptation finance, and blue finance. Yet green credit outstanding currently stands at only around US$32 billion, while labelled sustainable bonds outstanding amount to just US$1.1 billion.

International capital is therefore becoming increasingly important to Vietnam’s growth and green transition. This raises a critical question: how should the Vietnam International Financial Centre (VIFC) be positioned as an effective gateway that genuinely channels international capital into Vietnamese businesses and projects?

Drawing on the perspectives and analysis shared at the Vietnam Green Finance Conference 2026, FiinRatings has developed the Market Commentary “From Ambition to Investable Assets: Positioning Vietnam’s International Financial Centre as a Green Finance Hub”, focusing on the key conditions needed for VIFC to gradually fulfill this role.

Key highlights include:

🔹 Expanding sustainable finance beyond labelled green products, to include transition finance, climate adaptation finance, and blue finance, supported by instruments ranging from bonds and loans to sustainability-linked facilities and blended finance.

🔹  Establishing four building blocks for green finance at VIFC, including a unified green-finance rulebook; a green taxonomy compatible with international standards; an MRV (measurement, reporting and verification) and climate-data system; and accreditation rules for verifiers and SPO providers.

🔹 Prioritising institutional foundations and credibility over financial incentives. The experience of GIFT City shows that a single-regulator model, recognition of international standards, and independent review are important foundations for building confidence and managing greenwashing risk.

🔹 Enhancing project bankability. A green label can widen the investor base, but it cannot substitute for project quality, transaction structure and credit quality – the fundamental factors that determine access to finance.

🔹 Measuring effectiveness by the transmission of capital into the real economy. The key measure is not simply transaction volumes or capital booked within the financial centre, but how much capital actually reaches Vietnamese businesses and projects.

From a Financial Centre to a “Green Capital Transformation Hub”

The core challenge is not simply to attract capital, but converting it into investable assets. VIFC could therefore position itself as a "green capital conversion hub", transforming the investment and transition needs of businesses and infrastructure projects into assets that are standardised, de-risked and measurable, enabling more effective connections with international capital.

Realising this role requires an integrated ecosystem built on clear standards, transparent data, and independent review. With capabilities spanning financial data infrastructure, market analytics, credit ratings, and independent assessments, FiinGroup and FiinRatings aim to support the development of Vietnam's capital market by enhancing transparency, strengthening investor confidence, and broadening access to long-term capital for investment opportunities in Vietnam.

👉 Read the full Market Commentary at: THIS LINK

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