HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s Ministry of Finance held an investment promotion conference in London on Tuesday, underscoring the country’s strong commitment to deepening economic and financial ties with the UK.

Opening the event, Finance Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng highlighted Việt Nam’s resilience and strategic vision, saying the country has seized opportunities and adapted swiftly and flexibly to maintain high growth and become one of the region’s most attractive investment destinations.

He stressed that Việt Nam always attaches importance to international cooperation, including with the UK – a strategic partner across key sectors – and called on British businesses, investment funds and financial institutions, as well as partners across Europe and globally, to expand investment, transfer knowledge, share management expertise, and support technology and green finance development. These, he noted, will contribute to realising Việt Nam’s sustainable development goals.

The minister said the Vietnamese State and Government are determined to pursue comprehensive and strong reforms to usher in a new era of development, with a focus on four strategic breakthroughs: overhauling law building and enforcement, promoting science, technology and innovation, fostering private sector growth, and advancing international integration.

Việt Nam, he added, continues to prioritise high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI) to restructure industries and enhance productivity, technology and value addition while also encouraging foreign indirect investment (FII) through its stock market to diversify capital sources and strengthen financial stability.

Reaffirming Việt Nam’s commitment to foreign investors, Thắng said government policies always aim to ensure transparency, fairness and a mutually beneficial environment that promotes innovation and safeguards investor rights, making Việt Nam a sustainable and long-term investment destination.

According to the minister, Việt Nam’s economy showed robust performance druing the first eight months of 2025. The disbursed FDI reached an estimated US$15.4 billion, up 8.8 per cent year-on-year and also the highest level for the January–August period in five years. Among 74 countries and territories with newly licensed projects, the UK is a key strategic partner, an important investor, and also Việt Nam’s third-largest trading partner in Europe.

Alongside FDI growth, Việt Nam's capital markets continued to expand strongly. The combined market capitalisation of stocks and bonds reached 103.75 per cent of the estimated 2024 GDP. The country is now home to 1,600 listed and registered firms, including seven with market capitalisation exceeding $10 billion and 61 above $1 billion.

By August 2025, VN-Index had risen 33 per cent from the end of the previous year, ranking among the world’s best-performing indices. Việt Nam’s stock market also led ASEAN in liquidity, with average daily trading of over $1.1 billion, while the number of securities accounts surpassed 10 million – around 10 per cent of the population.

Thắng emphasised that Việt Nam is aligning its legal framework with international standards to ensure a safe, transparent and sustainable stock market. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission have stepped up investment promotion programmes, holding direct dialogue with the global financial community in major financial centres.

At the conference, participants were briefed on Việt Nam’s market potential, highlighted by the country’s stable economic growth and preferential policies for FDI and the stock market, as presented from both regulatory and market perspectives. The conference also provided a platform for dialogue with international investors, helping the ministry to better understand the concerns and expectations of businesses, investment funds, and individual investors.

Following the event, a series of bilateral meetings took place, with promising prospects for new investment projects that will further elevate bilateral economic and financial relations. — VNA/VNS