In 2025, the city set up a Preparatory Committee, a Working Group and an Advisory Council. The Preparatory Committee comprises municipal leaders and heads of departments and agencies.

The Working Group includes department leaders and staff holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees from developed countries who have been seconded from government agencies and commercial banks. The Advisory Council brings together leading domestic and international experts in economics, finance and technology to study global experience, prepare documentation for operations and contribute to drafting Government decrees implementing National Assembly resolutions.

From September 2025, Da Nang shifted the work of the Preparatory Committee and Working Group into a simulation and trial-operation phase for the governing body of the international financial center. This covered licensing and registration procedures, member accreditation, an integrated one-stop system, and internal regulations on organizational structure and operations.

The city has organized study missions to examine models and ecosystems of major international financial centers worldwide, while engaging financial institutions, investment funds and advisory firms at home and abroad to gauge business demand. It has received positive feedback through nearly 70 letters of interest seeking membership in Vietnam’s international financial center in Da Nang and signed more than 20 memoranda of understanding covering training, advisory services, communications, connectivity, investment promotion and product development.

Organizations that have signed memoranda of cooperation include Binance, Tether, Bybit, Abu Dhabi Global Market, DTCpay, APEX Group, the Swiss Fintech Association and Frankfurt Main Finance, among others.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Tung Lam, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Science at the University of Economics, the University of Danang, and a member of the basic research council in economics of the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development, Da Nang holds clear advantages in building an international financial center, particularly in science and technology, innovation and digital transformation. These elements should not merely support development but form core foundations for establishing the city’s standing in the international financial landscape. In today’s environment, a financial center is no longer simply a concentration of banks or investment funds, but an ecosystem encompassing fintech, digital finance, big data and artificial intelligence. In this respect, Da Nang already enjoys a relatively strong domestic position.

The city can also develop regulatory sandboxes for next-generation financial models serving cross-border trade and investment, the green economy and the Mekong-Southeast Asia value chain, with digital assets and asset tokenization emerging as notable directions. Through tokenization, assets such as real estate, infrastructure, carbon credits and financial rights in supply chains can be digitized, fractionalized and traded more transparently on digital platforms. This broadens access to international capital, particularly for small and medium-scale projects, without requiring the long financial track record associated with traditional financial centers.

Dang Tung Lam said the most suitable path for Da Nang is to become a small but smart financial center anchored in technology, innovation and sustainable development. If the city remains consistent with this direction, it can secure a distinctive and durable position within the regional network of financial centers.

Dang Dinh Duc, Vice Chairman of the governing body of the international financial center in Da Nang, said the city has provided early guidance and worked closely with relevant agencies to assist interested enterprises in establishing legal entities and registering for membership in the financial sector. The governing body will grant conditional membership certificates to nine organizations and financial institutions, and issue approval letters of interest to one commercial bank.

He added that preparations began early and were carried out in earnest, with readiness for implementation and workspace allocation. After the Government announced the establishment of the financial center on December 21, 2025, the city put its organizational structure in place the following day. Official opening of the governing body’s office and workspaces for the first members of the Da Nang international financial center is scheduled for January 9, 2026.

Following the National Assembly’s issuance of Resolution No. 222 on June 27, 2025, and while awaiting detailed Government decrees, Da Nang moved ahead with preparations to ensure effective, reputable and sustainable operations. The city has developed frameworks for institutional arrangements, organizational structure, job positions and recruitment plans, and introduced policies to attract high-quality personnel and hire foreign experts. It has already selected an expert who previously served as a director of an international financial operations center to participate in operations in Da Nang.

In parallel, the city is making substantial investments in information technology infrastructure and innovation, with major projects in 5G telecommunications, ground satellite systems, semiconductors and artificial intelligence involving leading global corporations. Priority projects linked to the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57 include an artificial intelligence laboratory, the Da Nang Innovation Space, an international data center (IDC), a Viettel submarine cable landing station, and a data center at Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, forming a regional-level data hub and a broader regional data center in Da Nang. These technology foundations support modern financial activities, particularly digital finance and fintech.

Da Nang’s leadership has pledged to accompany investors throughout the entire process, from concept development to implementation and effective operation, ensuring a transparent and flexible legal framework aligned with international standards, and creating a safe, modern and attractive working and living environment to build a modern, innovative and credible international financial center in the Asia-Pacific.

The city also intends to introduce controlled pilot models focused on areas drawing strong interest such as fintech, green finance and blockchain, and to provide digital financial models linked to real assets while aligning financial center activities with the city’s socio-economic development programs.

Emphasis will be placed on green transition, innovation and sustainability. Da Nang recognizes that the credibility of an international financial center depends heavily on compliance with anti-money laundering standards, risk control and financial transparency, Pham Duc An, Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, said.

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