Vietnam and Australia seek to boost fintech

With the desire to cooperate with Vietnamese businesses in the field of finance and technology (fintech), Asialink Business Center under the University of Melbourne (Australia) has announced to carry out a new capacity development program to raise awareness and position of Australian businesses.

The program is jointly held by Asialink Business, the Australian Federal Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), and The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).

Asialink Business emphasized that the program will support the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES), which is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Fintech for real estate. Photo: Sunshine Fintech

The strategy will help strengthen the commitment to trade and investment, economic liberalization, and connectivity between Australia and Vietnam, and help both countries take advantage of emerging market opportunities.

Asialink Business assessed that Vietnam has the fastest-growing middle class in Southeast Asia with a GDP growth rate of 2.9% in 2020 amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic in the world.

Vietnam’s population is young and ready to learn new technologies. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted Vietnam's economy but spurred the growth of the country's digital technology platform.

In 2020, Vietnam recorded a large number of consumers switching to online services instead of traditional forms. This is also a year marked by an explosion in the number of Vietnamese people experiencing new digital services for the first time in healthcare, education, and fintech, which has boosted the national digital growth by 29%.

Among industries transitioning to new technologies, fintech is considered to be particularly promising in the Vietnamese market.

According to the 2021 report by We Are Social and Hootsuite, about 97% of Vietnamese users access the Internet via smartphones. The Vietnamese government's program titled "National digital transformation to 2025, orientation to 2030" gives priorities to digitization, financial technology innovation, non-cash payment methods, and financial services.

Therefore, Asialink Business believes that Australian enterprises will have many opportunities to join Vietnam's technology market. Along with a large pool of startups specializing in mobile payments, Vietnamese banks' demand for technical and commercial expertise is also increasing.

Numerous banks are looking for opportunities to partner with domestic and international fintech businesses to provide innovative customer solutions. Asialink Business believes that Australian enterprises are well positioned to meet the growing needs of Vietnam's fintech sector. However, to make the best use of the opportunities, Australian businesses need to be strategic in their approach.

Navigating Vietnam's fintech opportunities requires a well-thought-out strategy that helps Australian enterprises invest time and resources to understand Vietnam’s people and businesses, and be ready for localizing products in Vietnam’s market. That is the goal and content of the program Asialink Business is aiming for.