The Business Times
business-time-50
Asean Business logo
SPONSORED BYUOB logo
INSIDE ASEAN
·
SUBSCRIBERS

No longer just an outpost: Vietnam’s rise opens new front for DBS, OCBC, UOB

The financing needs of businesses there have grown as they integrate into Asian trade and capital flows

Summarise
google-preferred-sourceAdd BT as a preferred source
Renald Yeo

Renald Yeo

Published Thu, Apr 30, 2026 · 01:30 PM
阅读简体中文版 (beta)
    • In 2025, Vietnam’s economy grew 8%, its second-fastest pace in 15 years. It is targeting economic growth of 10% this year.
    • Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO of UOB, with a scale model of the lender's new Vietnam headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City.
    • In 2025, Vietnam’s economy grew 8%, its second-fastest pace in 15 years. It is targeting economic growth of 10% this year. PHOTO: EPA
    • Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO of UOB, with a scale model of the lender's new Vietnam headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. PHOTO: UOB VIETNAM

    [SINGAPORE] For Singapore’s banking giants, Vietnam once served mainly as an outpost. The lenders financed clients expanding there and followed existing relationships, rather than building new ones.

    Today, the fast-growing economy of more than 100 million people has become something more, said senior bankers: an increasingly sophisticated domestic market with broader and more complex financing needs.

    The country is also benefiting from regional supply-chain shifts amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. This is helping to support a constructive growth outlook in the years ahead.

    Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.

    Inside Asean: VietnamVietnamSingapore banksBankingDBSOCBCUOBInside Asean

    Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.

    Reuse this contentFeedback

    TRENDING NOW

    “Deposit growth should be at the high (to) higher single-digit range,” says DBS CEO Tan Su Shan.

    DBS CEO Tan Su Shan strikes upbeat tone on deposits, wealth growth after strong Q1

    Artificial intelligence is taking over many tasks, while young people find it difficult to hold their jobs.

    How China’s young workers are securing their future even as AI disrupts job market, triggers pay cuts

    The fourth Amity Circle retreat was hosted by Temasek Foundation from Apr 8 to 10 in Hanoi.

    Middle East-linked energy supply shocks put Asean Power Grid back in focus

    Sunway Group's founder and chairman Jeffrey Cheah says international expansion will increasingly be driven by the next generation.

    Malaysia’s 8th richest man Jeffrey Cheah wants Sunway business to last 10 generations

    Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
    Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
    View More