The Da Nang financial centre is the more radical half of Vietnam’s new financial architecture. Where Ho Chi Minh City builds depth, Da Nang builds novelty: Decree 323/2025/ND-CP directs it to become a modern centre bound tightly to the innovation ecosystem, digital technology and sustainable finance, and to serve as a controlled testing ground for financial models that Vietnamese law has not yet contemplated.
The Da Nang financial centre footprint: 300 hectares
The Da Nang financial centre covers roughly 300 hectares. Five lots in An Hai ward – A12, A13, A14, A15 and A* – total 6.17 hectares. A 20-storey information technology building at Software Park No. 2 in Hai Chau ward adds 0.12 hectares. Land north-west of the Thuan Phuoc bridge approach in Hai Chau contributes 9.7 hectares, and the Nhu Nguyet – Xuan Dieu corridor a further 1.98 hectares. The largest component – roughly 282 hectares – is planned sea reclamation opposite Nguyen Tat Thanh street.
The distribution tells the strategy. Operations start immediately in existing buildings, particularly the Software Park tower, while the reclamation delivers the long-horizon campus. Early members occupy real space in months rather than waiting years.
The Da Nang financial centre mandate: sandbox and digital assets
Decree 323/2025 gives the Da Nang financial centre an explicit brief: pioneer and expand digital asset products, digital payments, trading platforms and specialised exchanges; promote supply chain finance, third-party services and non-deposit-taking lenders as a complement to the traditional financial market; and form specialised, flexible and innovative financial products.
Behind that sits the most striking provision in Resolution 222/2025/QH15 – the ability to pilot business models for which the law has no provision, with exemption from liability for good-faith implementation. In a jurisdiction where regulatory ambiguity has historically deterred innovation, an express safe harbour changes the calculation. Our fintech sandbox guide covers how it works.
Who the Da Nang financial centre suits
Four profiles fit naturally. Digital asset businesses seeking a regulated venue in Asia outside the crowded Singapore and Hong Kong markets – see our digital asset exchange guide. Payment and fintech firms wanting to test rails at commercial scale under supervision. Supply chain finance platforms serving the manufacturing corridors of central Vietnam. And sustainable finance vehicles, given the centre’s explicit sustainability mandate and the green finance priority list.
The Da Nang financial centre rulebook advantage
Critically, the Da Nang financial centre is not a lesser jurisdiction. It is one location of a single legal entity, and every standard, rule, process, form and licensing criterion applies identically at both sites. A licence obtained in Da Nang carries the same authority as one obtained in Ho Chi Minh City. What differs is ecosystem, cost and the regulator’s appetite for experimentation – all commercial variables, as our international financial centre overview explains.
Cost and lifestyle: the recruitment argument
Da Nang competes on liveability in a way few financial centres can – beaches, an international airport, and occupancy costs a fraction of Singapore or Hong Kong. For firms whose binding constraint is attracting senior technologists and quantitative staff rather than proximity to issuers, that arithmetic is decisive.
Da Nang financial centre FAQs
When can members actually operate?
The 2025-2026 phase requires the Da Nang People’s Committee to form and commence operations, resource the institutions and complete priority infrastructure. Existing buildings mean the first cohort can be operational well before the reclamation completes.
What licences are available?
Licensing follows the centre-wide criteria across the priority sectors – fintech and innovation, funds and asset management, commodities and trade finance, green finance, infrastructure and professional services. Our membership and licensing guide sets out the process, and the legal framework is published via the Ministry of Finance.
What the sea reclamation means for early entrants
The 282-hectare reclamation opposite Nguyen Tat Thanh is the component that determines whether the Da Nang financial centre becomes a district or remains a cluster of buildings. Reclamation projects of that scale run on a multi-year horizon and depend on marine engineering, environmental approvals and funding sequencing that no regulation can compress. Investors should read it as the ten-year vision rather than the near-term operating environment.
The corollary matters more than the caveat. Because operations begin in existing buildings – the Software Park tower above all – the first cohort of members can be licensed, staffed and trading long before the campus exists. Early entrants therefore capture the regulatory advantages immediately while paying today’s occupancy costs, and hold optionality over prime reclaimed space when it delivers. Firms that wait for the finished district will pay for both the certainty and the land.
For planning purposes the sensible assumption is a phased footprint: a compact operational base now in Hai Chau or An Hai, a reserved expansion position in the reclamation zone, and a lease structure that permits relocation without penalty when the new supply opens. That posture costs little and preserves everything.
This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case. Regulations may change – please consult a qualified professional before acting. Should further analysis be required, please contact one of our lawyers below.
