Abu Dhabi, Vietnam SWFs Strike Deal to Seek Co-Investments

The agreement follows an October 2024 agreement between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates to remove nearly all tariffs on each other’s exports.

ADQ, Abu Dhabi’s $225 billion sovereign wealth fund, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese sovereign wealth fund State Capital Investment Corp. to collaborate on investments in Vietnam. The United Arab Emirates is Vietnam’s largest export market and second-largest trading partner in Western Asia after Kuwait.

Under the deal, the funds agreed to work jointly to find and assess potential co-investments intended to bolster Vietnam’s economy through strategic developmental goals.

Vietnam’s State Capital Investment Corp. was estimated to have about $9 billion in assets at the end of 2022, equivalent to 2.2% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to a paper published last year in the Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Studies.

“This partnership aims to deepen the strengthening bilateral ties between the UAE and Vietnam, while also highlighting ADQ’s commitment to investing in high-growth markets,” Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, managing director and group CEO of ADQ—the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co.—said in a statement. “Vietnam’s rapidly expanding economy presents a unique opportunity to drive impactful investments in key sectors of mutual interest.”

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According to the sovereign wealth funds, Vietnam’s economy, the 12th-largest in Asia according to Vietnam News Agency, is forecast to grow 6.5% in 2025 and 2026. In October 2024, Vietnam and the UAE finalized a comprehensive economic partnership agreement—the first for Vietnam with a Middle Eastern country—that includes collaborating to invest in the oil and gas, renewable energy, and agriculture sectors, among others.

As part of last October’s deal, the UAE agreed to phase out tariffs on 99% of Vietnamese exports, with Vietnam eliminating tariffs on 98.5% of the UAE’s exports. According to the countries, the agreement will provide Vietnam with market access to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. The UAE will open its market to nearly all Vietnamese export products, including in agriculture, consumer goods, seafood, wood and wood products.

Additionally, both countries agreed to cooperate in sectors such as tourism, transportation, manufacturing, financial services and energy development, as well as to improve cooperation in foreign affairs, defense, security, legal and judicial, socio-cultural matters, labor, education and people-to-people exchanges.