A delegation of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) led by Minister Ho Duc Phoc paid a working visit to Luxembourg from July 5 to 8.

The trip aimed to implement the outcomes of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to the European country in December 2022 and the official visit to the Southeast Asian nation by Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel last May.

Meeting with Luxembourg Finance Minister Yuriko Backes on July 7, Phoc highlighted the Vietnamese Government’s moves to handle green growth, climate change, and sustainable development issues, noting that the financial sector has taken active steps to boost the access to green finance in order to facilitate sustainable and environmentally friendly production and business activities.

Via the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the MoF and the Luxembourg Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development signed a memorandum of understanding on green finance cooperation for 2020-2025.

He said that the MoF hopes to continue receiving cooperation from the Luxembourg Government and Finance Ministry to promote the development of green bonds in Vietnam, hold conferences and workshops to popularise green finance, and train manpower in this regard. He also called for assistance in the formation of a carbon market as Vietnam is working to build a plan on the establishment of this market.

Minister Backes noted Vietnam is a developing economy that needs considerable investment to conduct green transition. As a leading centre of sustainable finance in the world, Luxembourg is well equipped to support green growth.

Thanks to unceasing efforts in knowledge transfer and capacity building in Vietnam, Luxembourg has gained solid grounds to help Vietnam connect more effectively with the international capital market, she said.

Visiting the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE), the MoF delegation had a meeting with its CEO Julie Becker and other leaders.

Minister Phoc affirmed that Vietnam is implementing action plans to develop green finance and has reaped certain achievements.

Becker spoke highly of the country’s achievements in developing its stock market and informed her guest about LuxSE’s close ties and fruitful cooperation with the State Securities Commission and stock exchanges of Vietnam.

Both sides affirmed that they will enhance substantive cooperation so that Luxembourg’s assistance will generate better results, particularly in term of managing and supervising the stock market, sharing experience in IT application, and improving manpower.

During PM Chinh’s visit last December, LuxSE and the Vietnam Stock Exchange inked a cooperation deal, Phoc said, asking the two sides to build a detailed implementation plan, especially in terms of sharing experience in organising transactions of green financial products in the stock market.

Vietnam also wishes to expand partnerships with Luxembourg to upgrade its stock market from a frontier market into an emerging one. It hopes for the latter’s help with institutional building; technology for digital transformation; transparent, safe, healthy and sustainable operation of the stock market; and development of high-quality human resources, the official went on.

At LuxSE, Minister Phoc chaired a roundtable workshop on connecting the two countries in building a green capital market. The event attracted representatives of Luxembourg authorities along with investment funds, businesses, and major investors from Luxembourg and some neighbouring countries.

In addition, Phoc had a working session with Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Kris Peeters to discuss the EIB loan of 500 million EUR (548.5 million USD) for Vietnam to carry out energy transition. He also called for the bank’s promotion of financial support for environmental and urban transport projects in the country.

During the trip, the MoF delegation also visited the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT).