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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

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Renald Yeo

Renald Yeo

Published Thu, Apr 30, 2026 · 01:30 PM
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    • 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.

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    Inside Asean: VietnamVietnamSingapore banksBankingDBSOCBCUOBInside Asean

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