Ho Chi Minh City Prepares International and Municipal Bond Issues With 21-Project Pipeline

Ho Chi Minh City is preparing the groundwork for international and municipal bond issues as Vietnam’s International Financial Center shifts from institution-building to practical operations.

At a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng, the Finance Ministry proposed six groups of products and services: investment and asset-management funds, asset-backed digital assets, international carbon credits, commodity and derivatives trading infrastructure linked to trade and supply-chain finance, fintech, and issued bonds. Because the groups are at different stages of readiness, officials plan to introduce them in phases rather than all at once.

The ministry’s immediate priorities include selecting energy, infrastructure, logistics and green-transition projects linked to banks and strategic investors; building an international investment and asset-management ecosystem; and developing a commodities market connected to trade and supply-chain finance. It also proposed continuing the center under its current model, with common standards for services, procedures, data and coordination between Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The goal is one unified center, not two separate markets.

Ho Chi Minh City’s operating authority said the city is focusing on four pillars: institutions, members, products and infrastructure. One of seven procedures, covering membership, was completed in August. The remaining six are expected to be completed in September and October. The city is screening members selectively rather than expanding indiscriminately, with about seven to 12 organizations potentially receiving licenses between now and early 2027.

The city is working with investors to raise capital for infrastructure projects and prepare international and municipal bond offerings. More than 21 projects have been placed in a pipeline, with five to seven of the most viable expected to receive priority promotion to strategic investors. Da Nang is pursuing several specific projects, while both operating authorities continue to refine membership criteria and the legal framework.

Concluding the meeting, Thắng said the center’s construction and launch were important tasks that required urgent, coordinated and substantive implementation. He said the two authorities should not wait until every condition is complete before acting, and called for concrete products and transactions by November.