The Singaporean bank officially broke ground on its future Grade A office tower in the Vietnam International Financial Center in HCMC (VIFC-HCMC) on July 1. The project marks the first purpose-built headquarters to be developed and owned by a foreign bank within the financial center.
For Wee Ee Cheong, the groundbreaking of UOB Plaza HCMC represented the continuation of a strategy that began more than three decades ago, when the Singapore-based bank entered Vietnam at a time when relatively few international lenders regarded the country as a priority market.
Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and CEO of UOB. Photo courtesy of the bank
A long-term commitment to Vietnam
The bank's relationship with Vietnam dates back to the early 1990s, when the country was beginning to open its economy and international financial institutions had yet to establish a presence.
