Banking sector plays an important role in Vietnam's double-digit growth

On November 4, at Session 3 at the Vietnam Investment Forum 2026 (VIF) with the theme "Financial Market - Pillar and Driver of Vietnam's Growth", speakers will focus on clarifying the role of the banking industry in the target of double-digit growth, not only as the "capital bloodline" of the economy, but also as a center of innovation, promoting digital transformation and spreading momentum to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking at the Forum, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, Member of the Advisory Group for the Establishment of the International Finance Center in Ho Chi Minh City, commented: 'To achieve an economic growth rate of 10% (i.e. double-digit growth) from 2026 onwards and maintain that rate for 20 consecutive years until 2045 to help Vietnam enter the era of development requires a huge amount of capital.

It is known that the financial system includes financial markets and intermediary financial institutions. In which, banks currently play a very important role in supporting capital for the economy.

Experts at Session 3 at the Vietnam Investment Forum 2026 (VIF) with the theme "Financial market - Pillar and driving force of Vietnam's growth"

In particular, in Vietnam, the economy is a bank-based system - meaning the growth and capital mobilization system relies heavily on banks. Currently, the debt to GDP ratio has exceeded 130%, which shows that the role of banks in our financial system is very large.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh, Director of Policy Research at VinUni University, said that in the next 15 years, Vietnam's economy will still depend heavily on banks. The capital market can develop and accompany, but with East Asian economies or even in the US, banks still have an advantage in providing capital to the economy.

Because the nature of the financial market is a risky business, in which banks are specialized in collecting, processing information and managing risks. With the development of digital technology , this can be done on a larger scale, at a lower cost and reaching more individuals. Therefore, the cost of capital and risk management of banks is increasingly effective.

Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh analyzes the role of the new banking system in the country's double-digit growth target in the coming time.

Meanwhile, the nature of the capital market is that individuals must assess, manage and minimize risks themselves. This is a burden, especially for a developing market like Vietnam, where the risks are even greater. Because our country's governance and legal systems are not strict enough to limit those risks. Therefore, although Vietnam really wants the capital market to develop to share the burden with the banking system, in the medium term, the doctor still believes that the role of banks is still paramount.

Assuming a growth target of 10% from now to 2030, according to Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh, that is 5 years from now, this is real growth. If we add about 3% inflation, the nominal growth will be about 13%.

“To achieve this level, credit growth normally has to exceed nominal GDP growth by about 3 percentage points. This level is quite safe, so I am lenient and take 2 percentage points, then credit growth needs to reach about 15%/year, from now until 2030. Thus, in the next 5 years, credit will have to double. At that time, the size of bank assets, equity and other related factors will also increase accordingly. Obviously, the role of the banking system is extremely important,” the expert said.

In addition, the banking system is also at the forefront of digital transformation. According to Mr. Nguyen Tu Anh, this is very important, because 10% growth next year will depend largely on whether the country is successful in digital transformation or not, in order to make the decision-making process faster and more accurate.

Currently, the banking and financial system is at the forefront of digital transformation, creating a huge ripple effect. For example, in payment, electronic identification (KYC), which helps stimulate other areas to also transform digitally, such as digitalization in accounting, leading to digitalization in production... Along with that, banks are also strongly developing API systems, which are shared platforms that help many new financial initiatives to emerge from there.

Sharing the same view and analysis on this issue, Mr. Quan Trong Thanh, Director of Analysis Department of Maybank Securities Vietnam, said that to achieve the target of two million enterprises by 2030, it is important to promote the growth of business households and help the SME sector develop more strongly. He cited that recently, many banks such asACB and MB have been very active in supporting business households to standardize books and financial data. These data will become important inputs for big data and artificial intelligence (AI) systems in building credit rating models and evaluating business capacity. Thanks to that, the space for capital and investment access of this sector will be increasingly expanded, creating a foundation for a sustainable increase in the number and quality of businesses.

Vietnam Investment Forum is an annual event organized by VietnamBiz and New Vietnam General Information Website, bringing together the leading investment community, from policy makers, business leaders, banks, investment funds to thousands of individual investors.

Through many seasons of organization, the forum has become a place to connect knowledge and investment capital, contributing to shaping the development trend of the financial - real estate - stock market in Vietnam. Entering 2026, the pivotal stage of a new growth cycle, the Vietnam Investment Forum returns with a series of hot content: Macro picture - Real estate - Financial market - Stock: Vietnam's path to prosperity.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/nganh-ngan-hang-dong-vai-tro-quan-trong-de-viet-nam-dat-tang-truong-2-chu-so-173051.html