VIFC FAQ: Common Questions About Vietnam's International Financial Centre

The basics#

What actually is the VIFC?#

The Vietnam International Financial Centre is a legally defined special zone spanning two cities — Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang — where registered members operate under a dedicated regulatory framework that differs from Vietnam's general legal and financial rules.

It is not a building. It is not a company. It is not a free trade zone in the conventional sense. It is a regulatory space, with defined geographic boundaries (898 hectares in HCMC, 300 hectares in Da Nang), its own governance bodies, licensing authorities, supervision mechanisms, a specialised court, and an international arbitration centre.

The legal foundation is Resolution 222/2025/QH15, adopted by Vietnam's National Assembly on June 27, 2025, with eight implementing decrees issued on December 18, 2025. This is not a pilot programme or a policy experiment. It is primary legislation backed by comprehensive subordinate instruments.

Is it open? Can I register now?#

Yes — with caveats. The VIFC officially launched on December 21, 2025. The VIFC-HCMC held its formal member ceremony on February 11, 2026, announcing its first cohort of founding and strategic members. The VIFC-DN Executive Authority is operational from its ICT1 Building at Software Park No. 2 in Da Nang.

Both Executive Authorities have the legal power to issue member registration certificates. The VIFC-HCMC website has a registration portal.

The caveat: the operating rulebooks — the detailed market rules, venue procedures, participant requirements, and reporting formats that govern day-to-day operations — are still being developed. The legal framework is in place. The operational machinery is being stood up. Firms registering now are positioning themselves as early movers, not plugging into a fully mature system.

Where is it, physically?#

Two locations.

VIFC-HCMC covers 898 hectares in central Ho Chi Minh City, spanning Saigon Ward, Ben Thanh Ward, and the Thu Thiem New Urban Area. The current offices are at 8 Nguyen Hue (Saigon Ward) and 123 Truong Dinh (Xuan Hoa Ward). The long-term headquarters will be the 55-storey Saigon Marina skyscraper in Thu Thiem.

VIFC-DN covers 300 hectares in Da Nang, anchored at the ICT1 Building in Software Park No. 2. Da Nang's infrastructure advantages include the Lien Chieu deep-water port (under development, targeting 50 million tonnes per year by 2050) and multiple submarine cable landing points.

The total footprint of roughly 1,200 hectares is the largest of any comparable emerging-market IFC. The DIFC, by comparison, occupies 110 hectares.

Who runs it?#

A layered governance structure. The full details are in our Who's Who guide, but the short version:

The Steering Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, provides strategic direction. The IFC Executive Council, chaired by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, sets operating regulations and coordinates across the two locations. Each city has its own Executive Authority — led by Truong Minh Huy Vu in HCMC and Ho Ky Minh in Da Nang — with independent licensing and sandbox powers. The IFC Supervision Authority handles inspection and enforcement. The Specialised Court and International Arbitration Centre handle disputes.

The Ministry of Finance is the standing agency of the Steering Committee. The State Bank of Vietnam retains authority over banking and foreign exchange matters.

Money, tax, and currency#

What's the tax deal?#

There is no zero-tax regime. Vietnam has opted for a tiered incentive structure rather than the blanket exemptions offered by the DIFC (0% for 50 years) or the AIFC (0% until 2066).

For projects in priority sectors — a list that includes digital assets, DeFi, tokenisation, fintech, green finance, aviation finance, maritime finance, and supply chain finance — the corporate income tax rate is 10% for 30 years.

For projects in other IFC sectors, the rate is 15% for 15 years.

Personal income tax on earned income for highly qualified personnel is exempt until 2030. This is a time-limited incentive — one of the more significant deadlines for early movers.

The full priority sector list is in the annex to Decree 323. If your activity is on the list, you receive the best terms. If not, you still receive preferential treatment compared to Vietnam's standard CIT regime, but materially less so.

Can I use foreign currency?#

Yes, within the IFC. This is one of the VIFC's most significant regulatory innovations.

Under Circular 72/2025/TT-NHNN, IFC member enterprises can transact, price, and settle in foreign currency when dealing with other IFC members or offshore counterparties. For transactions with Vietnamese individuals or entities outside the IFC, standard Vietnamese dong requirements apply.

IFC members must open a foreign currency capital account at an IFC member bank for four specified activities: offshore borrowing, offshore and domestic lending, outbound investment, and investment elsewhere in Vietnam. All other foreign exchange transactions can be conducted through standard payment accounts.

The critical shift: Vietnam has moved from ex ante licensing (apply for permission before acting) to ex post supervision (operate under declaration and reporting obligations, with scrutiny after the fact). IFC members do not need to register foreign borrowing with the SBV — they declare and report. Wholly foreign-owned IFC members can invest outbound without registration.

Can I move profits out of Vietnam?#

IFC members face no restrictions on capital or profit repatriation through IFC member banks, provided they comply with the reporting and declaration obligations under the Circular 72 framework. This is a material change from Vietnam's standard foreign exchange regime, which imposes more procedural requirements on outbound capital flows.

Legal and regulatory questions#

Is it common law?#

No. The VIFC operates within Vietnam's civil law system, not under English common law like the DIFC or AIFC.

However, the framework includes features designed to provide the predictability that international participants expect. The Specialised Court, established by a separate National Assembly law in December 2025, operates with international-standard procedures and can function in English. The International Arbitration Centre permits the application of foreign governing law in defined circumstances and limits judicial intervention where parties have validly agreed to arbitration.

English is a permitted operating language for transactions and documentation within the IFC.

This is a hybrid model — not common law, but not standard Vietnamese civil procedure either. Whether it provides sufficient legal certainty for complex cross-border financial transactions is one of the open questions that will only be resolved through operational experience. Our comparison guide examines this in detail.

How do I become a member?#

Through registration or recognition, administered by the relevant Executive Authority (HCMC or Da Nang).

Registration is the standard pathway. The following entities can apply: commercial banks, foreign bank branches, securities companies, insurance and reinsurance enterprises, investment and asset management funds, entities organising market infrastructure, fintech and digital asset organisations, consultancy and support service providers, non-financial organisations, and other entities prescribed by the government.

Recognition is a fast-track pathway for certain qualifying institutions: financial institutions, investment funds, or enterprises on the Fortune Global 500 list (or their direct parent companies), and domestic Vietnamese financial institutions in the top 10 by charter capital in their respective field. Banking, securities, and insurance companies must use the registration pathway regardless of size.

Members receive a separate identification number and are recorded in the IFC member register.

What's the sandbox, and who can use it?#

The sandbox is a controlled testing environment for technologies, products, services, and business models not yet prescribed by Vietnamese law. It is one of the VIFC's most operationally significant features.

Key design elements: sandbox licences can be issued for up to five years by the IFC Executive Authorities (not national regulators). Participants receive liability shields — exemption from liability for damage to the state during the testing period. Da Nang is explicitly oriented as the primary sandbox testing ground, while HCMC serves as the scaling environment.

Who can use it: The sandbox is designed for activities not yet regulated under Vietnamese law. This includes novel fintech products, digital asset models, new payment mechanisms, and other innovations that fall outside the existing regulatory perimeter.

What's not yet clear: The specific criteria for admission, testing boundaries, consumer safeguards, and exit procedures are to be specified by the IFC Executive Council. These implementing rules have not yet been published. Da Nang has already approved its first sandbox trial — Basal Pay, a digital asset conversion project — which suggests the Da Nang Executive Authority is willing to move ahead of the formal framework.

What about dispute resolution?#

IFC members can choose from multiple venues: the VIFC's own Specialised Court, the International Arbitration Centre, foreign arbitration, Vietnamese courts, or arbitration in Vietnam.

The Specialised Court comprises a Court of First Instance and a Court of Appeal, with jurisdiction over disputes between IFC members, and between members and domestic or foreign entities. It also handles recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards within the IFC.

The International Arbitration Centre, established under Decree 328, permits the application of foreign governing law and limits judicial intervention where parties have validly agreed to arbitration.

For cross-border participants, the availability of international arbitration within the IFC — with the possibility of applying foreign law — is one of the most important structural features. It provides an alternative to Vietnam's general court system, which, while improving, can be slow and unfamiliar to international litigants.

Myths and misconceptions#

Myth: "The VIFC is basically a free trade zone with tax breaks."#

Free trade zones reduce customs duties on goods. The VIFC is not primarily about goods — it is about financial services, capital markets, and regulatory architecture. The tax incentives are part of the package, but the more significant features are the FX liberalisation, the sandbox mechanism, the specialised court, the dedicated licensing authorities, and the digital asset priority designation.

If you are comparing the VIFC to an industrial free zone or an export processing zone, you are looking at the wrong framework. The correct comparison is with the DIFC, AIFC, or GIFT City — purpose-built international financial centres with their own regulatory ecosystems.

Myth: "Vietnam has legalised crypto."#

This requires precision. Vietnam has established a national pilot crypto asset market under Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP (September 2025), and the Ministry of Finance began accepting licence applications for crypto trading platforms in January 2026. Within the VIFC, digital assets, DeFi, tokenisation, and stablecoins are named as priority sectors with preferential treatment.

This is not the same as blanket legalisation. The national pilot is a controlled framework with licensing requirements, AML/KYC obligations, and administrative sanctions. The VIFC sandbox provides a separate pathway for testing unregulated digital asset models. Both operate under defined rules, not in a regulatory vacuum.

Firms that assume "crypto is legal in Vietnam" and act accordingly without navigating the licensing and compliance frameworks will find themselves in difficulty. The framework is permissive by design but regulated by intent.

Myth: "It's just on paper — nothing is actually built."#

The VIFC-HCMC is operating from offices at 8 Nguyen Hue in central Ho Chi Minh City. The VIFC-DN is operating from ICT1 Building at Software Park No. 2 in Da Nang. Founding and strategic members were formally announced at the February 11, 2026 ceremony. The Steering Committee has been established. The State Bank of Vietnam has issued implementing circulars. The Ministry of Finance is processing crypto trading platform licence applications.

It is true that the 55-storey Saigon Marina headquarters is not yet built, that no commodity exchange has been established, and that operating rulebooks are still being drafted. But the distinction between "nothing exists" and "the legal and institutional infrastructure exists while the operational details are being built out" is a significant one.

Myth: "You need to physically relocate to Vietnam."#

Not necessarily. The membership framework covers a range of entities, including those that may establish offices or branches within the IFC without relocating their entire operations. Decree 327 provides visas and temporary resident cards valid for up to 10 years, permanent resident cards for important investors and experts, and work permit exemptions — but these are facilitating mechanisms, not requirements.

That said, the ex post supervision model and the reporting obligations under the FX framework do require a substantive operational presence. A brass-plate entity with no real activity in Vietnam is unlikely to satisfy the compliance expectations. The VIFC is designed for firms that intend to conduct genuine business within the IFC, not for those seeking a convenient registration address.

Myth: "This is Vietnam's version of the DIFC."#

Partly true, partly misleading. The VIFC shares the DIFC's basic design logic — a carve-out with dedicated regulation, tax incentives, and international-standard dispute resolution. But the architecture differs in important ways: the VIFC uses civil law rather than common law, has a dual-city structure, embeds digital assets in its founding instruments, operates a layered regulatory model rather than a single independent regulator, and offers a tiered tax system rather than a zero-rate.

The DIFC has been operating for over two decades and hosts nearly 9,000 active companies. The VIFC launched in late 2025. Calling the VIFC "Vietnam's DIFC" sets expectations that the centre cannot yet meet — and obscures the genuinely distinctive features of its design.

Myth: "HCMC and Da Nang are competing with each other."#

The legal framework is designed for complementarity, not competition. VIFC-HCMC is oriented toward comprehensive financial services — banking, capital markets, insurance, asset management, aviation finance, maritime finance. VIFC-DN is oriented toward innovation-driven activities — digital asset pilots, fintech sandboxes, green finance, specialised trading platforms.

Both Executive Authorities have the same licensing and sandbox powers, and the IFC Executive Council exists partly to resolve matters where the two cannot agree. In practice, some degree of overlap and competition is inevitable — and may even be healthy. But the architecture is intentionally designed so that the two cities serve different functions within a unified system.

Practical concerns#

What language do I operate in?#

English is a permitted language for transactions, documentation, and operations within the IFC. The Specialised Court can operate in English. This is established by Resolution 222.

In practice, interaction with Vietnamese government agencies — including for tax filings, immigration procedures, and some regulatory submissions — will involve Vietnamese. Firms should plan for bilingual capacity.

Is there a stock exchange?#

Not yet. No exchange has been formally established within the VIFC. Decree 330 provides the legal basis for commodity exchanges, and the priority sector list references securities exchanges, bond markets, and derivatives platforms. The legal authority exists; the institutions do not yet.

For context, the DIFC launched NASDAQ Dubai (originally DIFX) in 2005, one year after the centre's establishment. The AIFC launched the Astana International Exchange in 2018, the same year the centre opened. Whether the VIFC follows a similar timeline remains to be seen.

What about banking? Can I open an account?#

The framework creates a system of IFC member banks — banks licensed to operate within the IFC under a more flexible regime than domestic Vietnamese banking rules, particularly for foreign exchange and cross-border transactions. Several of the VIFC's founding members — MB, TPBank, SHB — are major Vietnamese commercial banks that may seek IFC member bank status.

The practical question of whether an international firm can open a bank account with an IFC member bank, and what documentation and procedures that involves, will depend on the individual bank's onboarding processes and the SBV's implementing guidance. This is one of the operational details still being established.

How safe is my investment? What if the rules change?#

This is the question behind every other question, and it deserves an honest answer.

The VIFC's legal framework is anchored in a National Assembly resolution — the highest legislative authority below the Constitution. The eight implementing decrees carry formal legal weight. The five-year review clause in Decree 323 means the government will assess the IFC's effectiveness after five years, but this is a review mechanism, not a sunset clause.

The tax incentives are gazetted with specific durations (30 years for priority sectors, 15 years for others). The priority sector designations in the Decree 323 annex would require formal legal amendment to remove. These are structural commitments, not ministerial promises.

Vietnam has a track record of honouring investment protection commitments under bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements. The VIFC framework also provides access to international arbitration, which offers a dispute resolution pathway outside the Vietnamese court system.

None of this eliminates policy risk. The operating rulebooks have not been issued. Regulatory practice may diverge from regulatory text. The interaction between the VIFC regime and Vietnam's general legal framework will create edge cases that no decree can fully anticipate. But the legal architecture is more robust than a policy announcement or a ministerial statement — and the political sponsorship, with the Prime Minister personally chairing the Steering Committee, provides a degree of institutional commitment that is harder to reverse than it would be in a system with less centralised authority.

The questions we can't yet answer#

Intellectual honesty requires acknowledging what remains uncertain:

When will the IFC Executive Council publish the sandbox implementing rules? The sandbox mechanism is legally established but the specific admission criteria, testing parameters, and exit procedures have not been published. Da Nang is moving faster than HCMC on this front.

Which international financial institutions will commit? The founding and strategic member lists are dominated by Vietnamese institutions. No major global bank, asset manager, or exchange has publicly committed to establishing operations within the VIFC. These commitments — when and if they come — will be the strongest signal of international credibility.

How will the Specialised Court actually operate? The law establishing the court was passed in December 2025. The appointment of judges, the adoption of procedural rules, and the court's first decisions will define whether the institution provides the legal certainty that international participants require.

How will the VIFC interact with the national crypto pilot? Vietnam is running two parallel digital asset frameworks — the national pilot under the Ministry of Finance and the VIFC sandbox under the IFC Executive Authorities. Whether firms can operate under both, or must choose, is not yet clear.

What does the five-year review look like? Decree 323 mandates a government review of the IFC's operational efficiency after five years. The scope and consequences of that review are undefined. This is a feature, not a bug — it provides flexibility — but it also introduces a known unknown.

These are not reasons to dismiss the VIFC. They are reasons to engage with it carefully, with professional advice, and with clear-eyed expectations about the difference between a legal framework and a functioning market.

This FAQ will be updated as new information becomes available. If you have a question not covered here, let us know via our Contact page. Last verified: February 15, 2026.