Luxembourg, Vietnam Finance Ministers Set Sights on Strengthened Bilateral Relations

On Friday 7 July 2023, the Vietnamese Minister of Finance, Hồ Đức Phớc, met with Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Yuriko Backes, during a visit to the Grand Duchy.

The visit of Vietnam's Finance Minister to Luxembourg follows the official visit to Vietnam of Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and the Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Minister for Tourism, Lex Delles, in May 2023, as well as the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Phạm Minh Chính, to the Grand Duchy in December 2022.

During their meeting, Luxembourg and Vietnam's finance ministers discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations in the financial sector, following the signing in Hanoi on 4 May 2023 of a strategic partnership agreement on green finance between the Vietnamese and Luxembourg finance ministries. Building on existing bilateral programmes, the finance ministers agreed to support regular exchanges between the financial sector communities of the two countries to help better connect Vietnamese and European green capital markets.

Minister Backes said: "Vietnam is a booming economy that requires significant investment to achieve its green transition. As the main sustainable financial centre internationally, home to the Luxembourg Green Exchange and a significant share of European ESG and impact funds, Luxembourg is well equipped to support this green growth. Thanks to our sustained efforts in the area of knowledge transfer and capacity building in Vietnam, we have a solid foundation to help the country connect further and more effectively to international capital markets."

Minister Hồ Đức Phớc, accompanied by a delegation of more than 30 representatives from Vietnam's financial sector, its regulator and its central bank, also visited the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT), where together with Luxembourg for Finance (LFF ), where he learned about Luxembourg's financial centre and its ecosystem.

Finally, the Vietnamese Minister of Finance and his delegation visited the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) and participated in a round table with representatives of the Luxembourg financial centre. This session, chaired by Minister Hồ Đức Phớc, focused on Vietnam's green growth strategy as well as the role that Luxembourg can play as a global centre for green funds and for green bond issuers.