Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (right) and Ali Ijaz Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore-based Makara Capital. — VNA/VNS Photo Chu Thanh Vân

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Wednesday for Ali Ijaz Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore-based Makara Capital, urging the group to support Việt Nam in developing international financial centres.

Sơn praised the effective business investment cooperation activities of the Makara Capital Group globally and in Việt Nam in recent times.

He informed the guest that to prepare for a new development era - the era of the nation's rise, Việt Nam defined solutions, including the establishment of regional and international financial centres. This is an urgent requirement and one of the particularly important projects for the coming year.

Việt Nam has three growth poles -- Hà Nội in the Red River Delta, Đà Nẵng in the central region, and HCM City in the South. These locations have attracted significant resources and major investors and financial groups to mobilise resources for Việt Nam's economic development, the Deputy PM said.

Sơn hoped Makara Capital will accompany Đà Nẵng and Việt Nam in the process of perfecting the institutional framework and developing the financial centres, including human resource development, investment attraction, connection with other financial centres in the region and the world, as well as attracting financial institutions.

Ali shared his interest in the Đà Nẵng financial centre, believing that with its experience, the group can effectively support Việt Nam in developing a financial centre model combined with innovation.

According to the CEO, Việt Nam can learn from the financial centre models of Singapore, Dubai, and Kazakhstan.

He said the most important factor in establishing an international financial centre is the human resources, the quality of human resources, and their living and working conditions. Another important issue is building a legal system to facilitate the inflow and outflow of capital, ensuring capital recovery and safe cash flows.

Ali said this is an opportunity for Việt Nam to experiment before scaling this model for the entire economy.

He also pointed out advantages for Việt Nam in the next two years, affirming that he will send his top experts to Đà Nẵng to support the city in realising the international financial centre project.

Appreciating the insights shared by the Makara Capital CEO, Sơn emphasised that the idea of establishing a financial centre combined with innovation is a very good one, and Đà Nẵng is developing in that direction.

He hoped that the group, upon collaborating with Đà Nẵng, will help this city build institutions and develop human resources.

Sơn expected Makara Capital will also help Đà Nẵng to train human resources and connect it with other international financial centres in the region and around the world.

He noted that the Vietnamese Government is paying much attention to institutional perfection to create favourable conditions for investment cooperation. — VNS