Vietnam - an attractive investment destination for British businesses

Photo caption — Minister Nguyen Van Thang speaks at the conference. Photo: VNA

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Minister Nguyen Van Thang updated the economic situation of Vietnam in the first 8 months of the year with many positive signals when the foreign direct investment (FDI) implemented in Vietnam is estimated at 15.40 billion USD, up 8.8% over the same period last year and is the highest level of implementation in 8 months in the past 5 years. Notably, among the 74 countries and territories with newly licensed investment projects is the UK, currently a strategic partner, important investor and the 3rd largest trading partner of Vietnam in Europe.

Along with the growth of FDI capital flows, Vietnam's indirect investment (FII) capital flows also recorded many advances with the total capitalization of the stock market, including stocks and bonds, reaching 103.75% of estimated GDP in 2024. Vietnam has 1,600 listed and registered companies for trading, of which 7 listed companies have capitalization exceeding 10 billion USD, 61 listed companies have capitalization exceeding 1 billion USD.
As of August 2025, the VN-Index increased by 33% compared to the end of the previous year, becoming one of the markets with the strongest growth in the world . Vietnamese securities lead the ASEAN region in terms of liquidity, with an average trading value of more than 1.1 billion USD per day. The number of securities accounts reached more than 10 million, equivalent to 10% of the population, exceeding the set target.

The Minister of Finance emphasized that Vietnam is increasingly perfecting its legal framework, approaching international standards and good practices, ensuring the stock market develops safely, transparently and sustainably. In particular, in recent years, many reforms have been implemented to create more favorable conditions for foreign investors. The Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission have actively implemented a series of investment promotion programs to directly dialogue with the global financial community in major financial centers.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that in Vietnam, policies always aim for transparency and fairness; the investment environment is increasingly improved with the goal of "mutual benefit", promoting innovation and protecting the fair rights of investors, so that Vietnam is a long-term and sustainable investment destination.

He emphasized that Vietnam always attaches importance to international cooperation, including with the UK - a strategic partner in many important fields - and called on the business community, investment funds and financial institutions of the UK in particular and the European region and the world in general to continue expanding investment, transferring knowledge, sharing management experience, developing technology and green finance, contributing to realizing Vietnam's vision of sustainable development.

At the Conference, delegates were introduced to the potential of the Vietnamese market with preferential policies for foreign direct investment and the Vietnamese stock market from the perspective of the management agency as well as from market members. The Conference also created opportunities for dialogue, exchange and receiving information from international investors to better understand the difficulties and aspirations of businesses, investment funds and investors.

Assessing the investment potential in Vietnam, Mr. Craig Martin, Executive Chairman of Daynam Capital Group, shared with VNA reporters in the UK that now is an exciting time to invest in Vietnam. Over the past 30 years, Vietnam has witnessed impressive GDP growth thanks to reform policies and the hard-working spirit of its people.

However, the government is not satisfied with this growth rate and wants to promote it further through the capital market. He appreciated the government's efforts to continue reforming the stock market to create a fair playing field for foreign investors, saying that Vietnam has great potential to attract capital into domestic private projects as well as through the capital market in the public stock market.

Mr. Martin expects that the Vietnamese market, which is considered a frontier market, will soon be upgraded to an emerging market. This will be an important turning point, increasing the attractiveness of Vietnam to foreign institutional investors, helping to revalue listed Vietnamese companies, and attracting Vietnamese private companies to conduct IPOs (initial public offerings) in Vietnam, creating opportunities for foreign investors to participate in these businesses through the capital market.

Taking place within the framework of Minister Nguyen Van Thang's visit and working in the UK from September 14-17, the success of the conference opened up a vision for long-term, sustainable cooperation between businesses and investors of the two countries. After the conference, many bilateral meetings and contacts took place between Vietnamese and UK businesses, opening up prospects for many new investment projects, contributing to bringing the economic and financial relations between the two countries to a new level.

Previously, within the framework of the visit, the Minister of Finance had a meeting with the British Prime Minister's Trade Envoy, MP Matt Western, to further promote economic-trade-investment cooperation. Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized that the UK is a strategically important partner to Vietnam, affirming that Vietnam will continue to improve the investment environment, creating favorable conditions for foreign enterprises, including the UK.

MP Matt Western highly appreciated Vietnam's efforts in institutional reform, financial market development and international integration, affirming that the UK is ready to share experience, provide technical assistance and cooperate closely with relevant Vietnamese agencies to build an international financial center in Vietnam, promote the process of upgrading Vietnam's stock market, thereby creating more favorable conditions for international capital flows and strengthening the confidence of global investors.

At a meeting with Ms. Julia Hoggett, General Director of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Minister Nguyen Van Thang updated the development of Vietnam's economy and stock market and efforts to implement solutions to upgrade the market by synchronously issuing many mechanisms and policies that take effect immediately to create favorable conditions for foreign investment capital to participate in the Vietnamese stock market.

The Minister expressed his wish to increase the exchange of experiences in building and perfecting the legal framework, market supervision mechanisms, applying international standards on corporate governance, information disclosure and promoting sustainable growth (ESG), thereby enhancing transparency, safety and global integration, as well as experience in developing new products to diversify securities products such as green bonds, sustainable bonds, and derivative securities instruments.

For her part, Ms. Julia Hoggett shared with the Minister about LSE's activities and cooperation initiatives in the context of Vietnam actively implementing solutions to upgrade its stock market.

At a working session with Mayor of the London Financial District, Alastair King, Minister Nguyen Van Thang suggested that the London Financial District closely coordinate with Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang to develop an international financial center, and at the same time called on British investors and financial institutions to expand their investments, contributing to the goal of upgrading the stock market and developing the Vietnamese economy.

Mayor Alastair King affirmed that the London Financial District is ready to share experience and advice, especially through TheCityUK. He welcomed the Vietnamese Minister's proposal to apply the English common law system, which has a long history, helping to reduce costs and resolve disputes effectively. The London Financial District is also ready to connect Vietnam with partners to train skills and develop human resources in the financial sector.

During the visit, Minister Nguyen Van Thang also received a number of large British enterprises wishing to increase investment and cooperation with Vietnam.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-diem-den-dau-tu-hap-dan-doanh-nghiep-anh-20250917213208094.htm