Vietnam’s C4IR and Ant International Partner to Accelerate Innovation as Ho Chi Minh City Eyes Becoming International Financial Centre

The Vietnam Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Vietnam), established by the World Economic Forum and the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, and Ant International today announced a strategic partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance Vietnam’s digital economy, foster innovation, and support Ho Chi Minh City’s (HCMC) ambition to become an international financial centre and regional fintech hub.

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The partnership was announced at the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2025, officiated by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc.

As Vietnam emerges as one of Asia’s most dynamic engines of trade, travel, and inclusive digital finance, the collaboration between C4IR Vietnam and Ant International aims to accelerate the country’s Fourth Industrial Revolution agenda while strengthening HCMC’s competitiveness in the global economy and expanding access for the country’s small businesses.

Beyond payment infrastructure, the partnership focuses on developing Vietnam's domestic fintech ecosystem through regulatory innovation and talent development.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc expressed his hope that cooperation with Ant International would accelerate the city’s progress toward becoming an international financial centre, advance digital transformation, train high-quality talent, and strengthen Vietnam’s position in the global financial system. He commended the company’s global leadership in digital payments, digitisation, financial technology and its ecosystem of advanced technology platforms, and acknowledged the positive contributions of Ant International in promoting digital transformation and developing Vietnam’s fintech ecosystem.

“We play together and win together,” Chairman Duoc emphasised, underscoring a spirit of partnership and shared success.

Accelerating Innovation and Digital Growth for Vietnam

Both parties will collaborate across several key areas to enhance Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem and ensure that businesses — particularly SMEs and startups — benefit from progressive policies, cutting-edge technology, and global connectivity:

• Promoting HCMC as an International Finance Centre: Jointly advise the city on regulatory strategies and policy support to attract foreign businesses, promote progressive innovation frameworks, leveraging Ant International’s 6T (Travel Trade, Thrive, Technology, Talent, Trust) framework to shape future development.
• Enabling strong local innovation: Ant International will support HCMC and local partners in joint innovation initiatives and technology capacity-building to support fintech industry development.
• Globalising local SMEs: Enhance SME competitiveness in the regional and global economy by availing cutting-edge, tailored solutions via Ant International’s Alipay+, Antom, Bettr and WorldFirst.
• Developing next-gen talent: Comprehensive training program to address skill gaps and mentorship of local startups, in areas such as digital finance, cross-border payments, compliance, and fintech operations, supporting Vietnam’s approach of moving towards an innovation-led economy, and a regional hub for smart economic development and inclusive growth.

Ant International's businesses already operate in Vietnam and will progressively expand merchant access, while all three parties will ensure continuous alignment towards the partnership goals, with regular evaluation of progress toward HCMC’s financial center development targets.

“Vietnam is one of the most exciting digital economies in the world today, powered by forward-looking policy, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and fast-growing local talent pool, " said Peng Yang, CEO of Ant International. “Ant International is excited to work with C4IR to advance the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam. We are committed to expanding such public-private partnerships continuously to bring together policy innovation and technology expertise to drive inclusive growth in Vietnam and a much more vibrant and sustainable global digital economy.”

In a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ministries, branches and representatives of technology and financial companies at the Forum, Yang reinforced Ant International’s support towards the development of Vietnam. “We believe Ho Chi Minh City has the unique opportunity to truly become a world-leading international financial centre and we’re committed to supporting Vietnam to become a regional innovation hub under the leadership of the Prime Minister, with our full capabilities to implement the right technologies and regulation that brings real-world impact to the local community,” he added.

“Ant International will strengthen our presence and investments in Vietnam, making it one of our regional hubs for global market access.”

About Ant International

Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider offering a unified techfin platform to unlock next-gen commerce for all. In close collaboration with partners, they support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/

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