UOB breaks ground on US$450 million tower in Vietnam’s international financial centre

[HO CHI MINH CITY] UOB on Wednesday (Jul 1) broke ground on an office tower in Ho Chi Minh City, becoming the first foreign bank to set up a dedicated headquarters in the city’s Vietnam International Financial Centre, or VIFC-HCMC.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong expressed hope that the project, with a total investment of about US$450 million, could begin operations within two years – ahead of its 2030 completion target.

“Vietnam is a key market in UOB’s Asean strategy and an important gateway for trade and investment,” he noted. “Our new headquarters reflects our confidence in Vietnam’s future and our support for Ho Chi Minh City’s ambition to become an international financial centre.”

The 36-storey tower, named UOB Plaza HCMC, will be built to international Grade A standards and is targeting the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark certification, with climate-responsive design features tailored to Vietnam’s tropical conditions.

It is set to add to UOB’s network of headquarters across five core South-east Asian markets: Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

UOB was the first Singapore bank to establish a branch in Ho Chi Minh City in 1995 and is thus far the only Singapore bank with a wholly owned subsidiary in the country.

Since 2020, UOB’s foreign direct investment advisory unit has supported more than 400 companies in investing in Vietnam, with total committed capital of about S$9 billion, creating more than 60,000 jobs in the process.

The latest investment comes after the lender in 2025 raised the charter capital of its Vietnam unit to 10 trillion dong (US$380 million), from eight trillion dong, making it the second-largest wholly foreign-owned bank in Vietnam by charter capital, after South Korea’s Woori Bank.

The new headquarters building project also strengthens UOB’s long-term presence in Vietnam following its acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking business in the country in 2023.

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Working on member-bank status

UOB Plaza HCMC is being built on a 4,571-square-metre land plot located at 2 Ton Duc Thang Street within the historic Ba Son precinct. It occupies a prime riverside site at the heart of the VIFC-HCMC along the Saigon River and the adjacent luxury branded residences Grand Marina Saigon.

Truong Minh Huy Vu, chairman of the executive authority of VIFC-HCMC, told The Business Times that UOB is in the process of applying for member-bank status at the centre and could be eligible for incentives within the zone.

Under the VIFC framework, income from new investment projects in priority sectors may qualify for a preferential corporate income tax rate of 10 per cent for 30 years, along with up to four years of tax exemption and a 50 per cent reduction for the following nine years.

For non-priority sectors, eligible projects could receive a 15 per cent tax rate for 15 years, with up to two years of exemption and a 50 per cent reduction for the next four years.

Eligible priority or large-scale projects may also receive land-use or land-lease terms of up to 70 years, compared with the standard 50-year term that generally applies outside the financial centre.

Member banks also operate under a more explicit and flexible framework for foreign-currency and cross-border services tied to the financial centre.

UOB also meets one of the toughest entry thresholds for VIFC foreign-bank members: an international credit rating of at least AA-.

The Singapore lender is rated AA- by Fitch for its long-term issuer default rating and AA- by S&P Global for its long-term counterparty credit rating, with stable outlooks from both agencies.

VIFC-HCMC executives have said recently that the requirement has prevented more than 10 foreign banks from establishing a presence in the financial centre. They are now seeking to ease the rule, with proposals to lower the required credit rating from AA- to BB.

Major local lenders are also setting a foothold in the VIFC, with firms such as Vietcombank, MB Bank and HDBank planning to establish wholly owned banking units inside the financial centre.