The Vietnam - Singapore Trade Bridge: Opportunities Behind the Handshakes

As the President of the IBF Vietnam - Singapore International Business Federation, I have facilitated hundreds of working sessions between investment funds from the Lion City and ambitious founders in Vietnam.

Many people view Singapore merely as a “hub” for transferring capital or setting up holding companies for tax optimization. But looking deeper, the Singaporean market is an extremely rigorous “filter.” Before pouring capital, they do not just look at your profit margins; they look at your legal compliance, corporate governance transparency, and sustainable development mindset (ESG).

At a recent closed-door conference, a prominent Singaporean investor shared with me: “We are not lacking capital; we are lacking Vietnamese enterprises that are ‘ready’ to absorb that capital.”

“Ready” here means abandoning the localized, short-term business mindset. When advising Vietnamese enterprises, the first thing I and the Ryder Asset Management team do is reconstruct their financial reporting frameworks and operational processes to meet international standards.

The opportunity is immense. But to walk across that bridge and shake hands as equals, Vietnamese founders must equip themselves with a truly global mindset.