Choosing a Vietnamese bank partner: A smart move for foreign enterprises

Figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment show that Vietnam received registered FDI totaling over $18 billion in the first seven months of 2024, with disbursed capital reaching around $12.5 billion, an increase of 8.4 per cent compared to the same period last year and marking the highest level in the first seven months for the past five years. With the diverse supply chain needs of multinational manufacturers, stable socio-economic and political foundations, and a skilled workforce, FDI into Vietnam is expected to continue growing over the remainder of the year. Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) are seen as a bright spot in Vietnam’s economy and a crucial driver contributing to its recovery. One survey revealed that 70 per cent of FIEs operating in Vietnam have plans to expand their production and business activities. This reality, along with the entry of new FIEs into Vietnam, creates opportunities for local banks to provide financial services and solutions.

When it comes to banks serving FIEs, foreign banks, multinational banks, and banks from the country where the investment originated were often prioritized in the past. However, this trend is gradually changing. With advantages in understanding the local area, market, culture, and people, and with an extensive operational network, domestic banks can become reliable partners of FIEs investing and doing business in Vietnam. In particular, for medium-sized FIEs with operations spread across multiple provinces, a partnership with a Vietnamese bank is highly suitable.

For instance, the Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) is often chosen by FIEs entering Vietnam. With 571 branches and transaction offices spread around the country, along with a deep understanding and economic and cultural connections in various localities, SHB can provide support to FIEs in terms of capital and business networks.

The bank currently has cooperative relationships and provides products and services to FIE customers from countries and territories such as Japan, South Korea, and China, many of which are in the fields of industrial equipment, manufacturing and processing, and transportation.

A representative from SHB’s leadership team said that with a consistent focus on placing customers and the market at the center, the bank can understand and accompany FIEs throughout their operations in Vietnam. At each stage of development, the bank designs products and solutions tailored to the needs and business models of these enterprises. SHB also boasts a professional staff equipped with financial knowledge and proficiency in multiple languages to best understand and support its customers. SHB stands ready to offer financial banking solutions as well as assist with legal issues during the investment process of FIEs in Vietnam.

The bank offers a package of products with a series of service fee incentives, such as free domestic payments, up to 90 per cent reductions on outbound international money transfer fees, up to 75 per cent reductions on import L/C fees, and exemptions or reductions of various international payment fees, helping businesses optimize their costs and manage cash flow.

During business operations, SHB accompanies enterprises through working capital financing with preferential interest rates and payroll services with various fee incentives. Additionally, the SHB Corporate Online platform and SHB’s digital solutions are effective tools to help customers manage cash flow, business operations, and foreign exchange transactions conveniently and quickly at any time.

Moreover, SHB offers lending packages with preferential interest rates, flexible mechanisms, and numerous incentives tailored to businesses, such as a VND10 trillion ($400 million) package for production and business enterprises with competitive interest rates and a VND1 trillion ($40 million) credit package for enterprises needing car loans. Export-import businesses, meanwhile, can borrow from a $50 million credit package with interest rates starting from 4.5 per cent per annum and receive exemptions and reductions on 66 types of service fees.

For employees of FIEs, SHB also offers numerous attractive account opening and benefit policies, such as opening credit cards and unsecured loans with a limit of up to 20-times income, to a maximum of VND500 million ($20,000), free SMS messaging services, and free ATM withdrawal fees, among others.

As one of the top 5 largest private commercial banks in Vietnam, SHB is always ready with abundant resources and capital to support businesses in general and FIEs in particular.

Sustainable development partnerships, leading in green capital

Vietnam is an attractive destination for FDI in the ASEAN region, drawing significant interest from major European investors, especially as the green transition trend is now taking hold. Several large corporations have chosen Vietnam for their green capital investment. Specifically, Denmark’s LEGO Group has invested over $1 billion in building a carbon-neutral factory in the country, while Germany’s Adidas is implementing emission reduction strategies that require Vietnamese enterprises - suppliers and contractors - to align with sustainability goals.

It has been predicted that green FDI capital from European countries will continue to grow. A survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) confirms this trend. According to the survey results, 31 per cent of its members ranked Vietnam among the top 3 global investment destinations.

In line with the government’s National Green Growth Strategy, SHB collaborates with leading global financial organizations such as the World Bank (WB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and KfW to channel capital into green energy projects and clean agriculture and support businesses in their green transition and the greening of the economy. SHB also promotes business cooperation and fosters partnerships between domestic enterprises and FIEs, creating supply chains and production-business links.

In its 2024-2028 Transformation Strategy, SHB aims to become the leading bank in terms of efficiency; the most beloved digital bank; the best retail bank; and a leading bank in supplying capital and financial products and services to strategic private and State-owned enterprise (SOE) customers with supply chains, value chains, ecosystems, and green development.

It is focusing its resources on a comprehensive and robust transformation based on four pillars: Reforming mechanisms, policies, regulations, and processes; People as the core; Customers and the market as the center; and Modernizing information technology and digital transformation while adhering to six core cultural values: “Goodwill - Trust - Credibility - Knowledge - Wisdom - Vision”.

After more than 30 years of accompanying the people and the country, SHB is gradually developing, growing sustainably, strengthening its foundation, enhancing service quality, and modernizing technology to better meet customer needs, providing the best financial solutions.