Proposal for Ho Chi Minh City to issue international bonds

Ho Chi Minh City: The delegation proposes allowing Ho Chi Minh City to issue international bonds as part of the draft Special City Law. On 10 April 2026, during a group discussion on the economy and society, Deputy Truong Minh Huy Vu of the Ho Chi Minh City delegation proposed building a 'resource mobilization map' for 2026-2031. According to the government report, over the next five years the economy will require substantial investment; public investment alone is about 8.2 quadrillion dong — a very large figure. However, the current capital mobilization structure still relies mainly on two traditional channels: public investment and bank credit. Both channels face difficulties: disbursement bottlenecks in public investment, and bank credit as a share of GDP remains high, making further mobilization challenging. From this reality, Vu proposed shifting focus to new fundraising channels, especially the capital market, including corporate bonds, local government bonds, and project bonds. Along with this, mobilization through financial centers and expanded public-private partnerships (PPP). 'We should define these as three core channels to alleviate the pressure on the two traditional channels,' Vu said. Vu also stressed that we currently lack a comprehensive map of all resource mobilization channels. 'There are times when we accelerate public investment, but there are times when we cannot; there are times when attracting foreign investment is easier, but there are times when it is very difficult, especially when the capital market is weak,' he analyzed and proposed building an overarching resource mobilization map, excluding the already planned 8.2 quadrillion dong for public investment. Additionally, Vu commented that PPP is currently focused mainly on transportation, while PPP models are diverse, for example PPP for energy or digital infrastructure. The deputy proposed studying enshrining some important PPP models into law. 'Whether Ho Chi Minh City has money or not is both true.' In discussing this, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang assessed Vu's proposal as having many new points. 'Money, now you can say Ho Chi Minh City has money or not — both are true,' he said. He noted that the city’s investment demand for public investment in this term is a little over 3 quadrillion dong, but so far it has only mobilized about 1.3 quadrillion dong. This is evidence that the city is short of funds. Yet, on the other hand, the city 'has a lot of money' when implementing PPP, especially BT (build-transfer). Many large projects in HCMC are being implemented through this method, according to Quang. Quang praised PPP for significantly shortening procedures. 'Thanks to National Assembly Resolution 260, we solve the procedures four times faster than a typical public investment project,' he said. From this experience, he emphasized that the proposal to build a 'resource mobilization map' is very good. This approach helps answer how to mobilize capital at each stage, whether by local government bonds, corporate bonds, or boosting PPP. 'I think within a national framework it could be a model, an application approach. But for Ho Chi Minh City now, planning how we raise money is a very good story,' he said. Another advantage, according to Quang, is that once a funding method is chosen, we can anticipate the procedural aspects. The proposal for Ho Chi Minh City to issue international bonds Deputy Vu also noted that the capital needs of large cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai Phong are very large. He cited that HCMC’s annual demand for investment is around 1-1.2 quadrillion dong, while public investment covers only about more than 20%. Vu hypothesized that if HCMC were a business, with debt, the city would have a strong 'file': scale of 3 quadrillion dong, 2025 GRDP around 200 million per person, leading among centrally governed cities, far ahead of Hanoi and Hai Phong. Thus the city has a high capacity to borrow and issue bonds. Nevertheless, Vu assessed that the current mechanism for mobilizing capital still has many limitations and that the city is not yet allowed to issue international bonds. The recommendation is to consider allowing Ho Chi Minh City to issue international bonds, incorporating this content into the draft resolution on special finance or into the Special City Law. At the same time, select several key projects, such as metro-related works, for pilot implementation so that the city can directly negotiate with international investors and issue international bonds. With this proposal, Secretary Tran Luu Quang said he would include the provision permitting Ho Chi Minh City to issue local bonds on international markets in the draft Special City Law. He asked Deputy Vu to answer two questions: first, what mechanism is needed and where to obtain approval; second, what would Ho Chi Minh City issue to attract international investors? 'Let’s not be greedy; a pilot of one or two items to learn by doing will likely be more readily accepted,' Quang added. The press group ends.