Ho Chi Minh City, 22nd of October 2020 – Shinhan Financial Group in Vietnam (“SFG in Vietnam”) and Grab Company Limited (“Grab Vietnam”) have officially announced the signing of their comprehensive strategic partnership to jointly contribute to the development of startup ecosystem in Vietnam and to promote multi-business collaboration between two parties including financial services business. The MOU signing is also a landmark for the potential business synergies between SFG in Vietnam and Grab Vietnam in the future.

The event was successfully taken place at Grab’s head office with the participation of key leaders and representatives from both sides, including Mr. Shin Dong Min – CEO of Shinhan Bank in Vietnam, Representative of Shinhan Financial Group in Vietnam and Ms. Nguyen Thai Hai Van – Managing Director of Grab in Vietnam.

Within the scope of this partnership agreement, senior leaders from Grab Vietnam and Grab Ventures Ignite will participate as corporate mentors in the “Shinhan Future’s Lab Vietnam 20 – 21 Open Innovation for Startup Program”, which support startups to grow faster by connecting them with large corporations such as all subsidiaries of SFG in Vietnam, Grab Vietnam, CJ Group Vietnam, Savills Vietnam and VinaCapital Ventures for private mentoring and potential business collaborations. The startups will be chosen from various sectors such as Fintech, Retail and E-Commerce, Foodtech and Agriculture, Proptech, Edtech, Healthcare, etc. Concurrently, SFG in Vietnam and Grab Vietnam are committed to share the strategic vision for the development of Vietnam startup ecosystem with the authorities and large enterprises in Vietnam and their global partner network.

At the same time, both sides will also focus on the goal of promoting digital transformation in Vietnam, through the business cooperation to deploy the financial products and services of SGF in Vietnam on Grab Vietnam’s platform. Some intended projects in the pipeline for further discussion include opening accounts of Shinhan Bank through the Grab app and SFG providing digital loan programs for Grab’s users in Vietnam.

Mr. Shin Dong Min – CEO of Shinhan Bank in Vietnam, Representative of Shinhan Financial Group in Vietnam said: “This partnership demonstrates the common vision of both companies to create an advanced service environment through digital innovation of SFG in Vietnam and Grab Vietnam, to build a new win-win and innovative model through direct support to local startup ecosystems as a large company, and to present a new paradigm for both corporations and startup ecosystem in Vietnam”.

Ms. Nguyen Thai Hai Van – Managing Director of Grab in Vietnam shared: “As Southeast Asia’s first decacorn, we have the responsibility to further grow the startup ecosystem in Vietnam and across the region. We are doing this through Grab Ventures Ignite, an accelerator programme exclusively designed to build capability for early-stage startups in Vietnam. Today, with the collaboration with SFG, we aim to continue to pave the way for even more Vietnamese startups to rise and achieve success. Moreover, this strategic partnership will also enable both companies to tap into Vietnam’s vast mass market opportunity, providing better financial services and products in order to make financial inclusion accessible to all Vietnamese.”

In the long-term, Grab Vietnam and SFG in Vietnam will jointly deploy the innovative ideas and expand global networks. By expanding the global network, Grab and SFG in Vietnam wish to take advantage of the current resources from both sides, in order to provide customers with a better experience and more utilities, at the same time contribute to the digital transformation in Vietnam.