ADB grants $5 mln to women-led businesses in Vietnam

Dec 23rd at 08:14
23-12-2020 08:14:00+07:00

ADB grants $5 mln to women-led businesses in Vietnam

ADB has agreed to grant $5 million to support women-led small and medium businesses hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A woman presents organic products for sale at a fair in Ho Chi Minh City on November 21, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Vien Thong.

The lender, formally Asian Development Bank, aims to incentivize banks to restructure existing loans or extend new ones to at least 500 women-led SMEs in Vietnam.

The grant, signed by ADB and the government of Vietnam on Tuesday, will help these businesses avoid bankruptcy, preserve employment and access credit at a time when banks are reducing lending, the bank stated.

Five banks, ACB, BIDV, SHB, TPBank and VPBank, have volunteered to compete for the grant by finding eligible businesses to fund on a first-come, first served basis.

Andrew Jeffries, ADB country director for Vietnam, said support in accessing critical financing is essential for women-led small- and medium-sized enterprises adversely affected by Covid-19.

Economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have fallen hardest on small and medium businesses. In the first 11 months, nearly 93,500 companies suspended operations, up 16 percent year-on-year, according to General Statistics Office.

The funding is part of Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), which is governed by 14 founding contributing countries and managed by the World Bank. It aims to mobilize more than $1 billion to improve the business environment for women-owned or led small and medium enterprises.

Last year, ADB received $20.19 million from the initiative to support businesses in Vietnam and the Pacific.

Vnexpress





RELATED STOCK CODE (2)

NEWS SAME CATEGORY

US’ branding of Viet Nam as currency manipulator biased: Experts

The US Treasury Department’s labelling of Viet Nam as a currency manipulator is biased, as it is only based on US standards and lacks suitable consideration as well...

We-Fi adds $5 million to support Vietnam’s women-led SMEs

The grant will incentivize participating banks in Vietnam to restructure existing loans or extend new loans to at least 500 women-led small and medium-sized...

Bad debt ratio in Hanoi banking sector stays at 1.91%

Total capital mobilized by credit institutions in Hanoi this year is estimated to increase by 12.91% year-on-year and total outstanding loans at 9.58%.

Moody’s raises BIDV’s foreign-currency deposit rating

The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV)'s foreign-currency deposit rating has been raised from B1 to Ba3 by Moody’s.

Vietnam banks speed up replacement of magnetic cards

To help accelerate the application of chip cards, most banks are offering the switch free of charge.

Vietnam banks to phase out magnetic stripes for EMV chips on cards

Chips of EMV, short for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, standards will replace the magnetic stripes on cards issued by Vietnamese banks, starting March 2021.

Vietnam PM rejects claim of currency manipulation for unfair trade gains

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned related ministries and agencies to continue working with their US counterparts on maintaining strong bilateral relations that would...

Vietnam banks required to issue chip cards from March 2021

As of the end of the third quarter, Vietnam has around 93.78 million bank cards in circulation, in which the majority are magnetic cards.

Tax and fiscal support in response to coronavirus crisis

The Ministry of Finance is planning to further support the business community, including the extension of the validity period for existing support programs already...

PM Phuc dismisses US claim Vietnam manipulates currency for trade advantage

Vietnam's monetary policies are meant to ensure economic stability and not create trade advantages for it, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said.

Bank stocks

Insurance stocks


MOST READ


Back To Top