AIIB to spend $75 million on green and blue SeABank bonds
AIIB to spend $75 million on green and blue SeABank bonds
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is commited to investing $75 million into green and blue bonds to be issued by Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank).
This marks the first ever blue bond issued from Vietnam and is also AIIB's first investment in a blue bond.
The project is expected to further strengthen SeABank's strong capital base to expand financing for sustainable economic activities linked to water and the sea. It is also expected to grow green assets such as green buildings, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Vietnam is a founding member of AIIB, a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow. The country has long coastlines that have great potential for developing a blue economy, and thus has promising potential regarding the investment goals of SeABank.
Sharing the same goal of enhancing Vietnam's sustainable economy, AIIB and the International Finance Corporation (IFC - the other parallel investor) are supporting SeABank in these green and blue bonds project. The two financial institutions have committed to invest up to $150 million in this project, while advising SeABank on the issuance of green and blue bonds, application of related frameworks and pipeline development.
"Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution lays emphasis on the importance of resource mobilisation from financial and international credit institutions to support climate mitigation and adaptation ambitions," said Gregory Liu, AIIB director general of Financial Institutions and Funds, Global. "AIIB is very pleased to work with SeABank and IFC in this innovative transaction that will supplement ongoing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to thematic capital market development. We look forward to seeing more issuances from other Vietnamese financial institutions."
Le Thu Thuy, SeABank vice chairwoman of the Board of Directors, was also pleased with the new arrangement.
"Following SeABank's commitment to sustainability, one of our priorities is to issue the first blue bond in Vietnam and the first green bond by a private commercial bank in the country," she said. "We hope our partnerships with financial institutions such as AIIB and IFC would supplement SeABank's capital sources to foster green credit and sustainable strategies associated with the green and blue economies."
AIIB is committed to supporting SeABank's efforts to expand partnerships and implement sustainable projects to create positive socioeconomic and environmental impact, thereby contributing to national goals of green transition and net-zero commitments.
