Green bond market gathers momentum

Green bond market gathers momentum

Vietnam is embracing a new era of green finance, with a stronger legal framework and rising investor interest paving the way for a vibrant, cost-efficient green bond market.

In early June, the State Securities Commission announced that southern lender HDBank had completed documentation for its upcoming international bond offering.

The bank plans to raise up to $100 million through two tranches of $50 million each.

According to HDBank’s proposal, the proceeds from this issuance will be used to expand green lending, specifically to fund or refinance projects that meet sustainability finance framework criteria and related HDBank guidelines.

HDBank’s upcoming international bond offering will target institutional investors, primarily in the US and the Netherlands.

While Vietnam’s green bond market remains nascent, there have been a few successful issuances.

In April, Xuan Mai-Hanoi Clean Water Transmission Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of AquaOne Corporation, a water supply and treatment firm, issued green bonds worth $12.7 million, with a 20-year term.

According to Nguyen Tung Anh, director of sustainable finance services at credit rating agency FiinRatings, this marks one of the longest-term bond issuances by a non-financial entity in Vietnam’s capital market in over a decade.

In late 2024, another AquaOne subsidiary, Hoa Binh-Xuan Mai Clean Water Co., Ltd., issued $35 million in green bonds, also with a 20-year term.

Last June, Gia Lai Electricity JSC (GEC) made headlines as the first listed company in Vietnam to successfully issue a green bond certified under the Climate Bonds Standard.

At the Vietnam Sustainable Finance Forum 2025, held in Hanoi on May 29, Bertrand Jabouley, Asia-Pacific director at S&P Global Ratings, pointed to impressive growth in 2024, when sustainable bond issuances in Vietnam tripled compared to the previous year. He emphasised the momentum, but also noted that the share of sustainable bonds in Vietnam remains far lower than in countries such as South Korea, Japan, and many Western nations, where such bonds often account for over 100 per cent of bond issuances.

Looking ahead, Nguyen Tung Anh from FiinRatings expressed optimism that Vietnam’s green bond market will become more structured, transparent, and efficient once the official green taxonomy is issued.

Domestic banks, having already accumulated experience through green finance projects, are expected to take the lead in future green bond issuances.

According to Nguyen Dinh Tho, deputy director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the draft green taxonomy has been finalised and submitted to the prime minister for approval, with hopes it will be issued this year.

“Once the green taxonomy is enacted, Vietnam’s green bond market will grow in a more structured, transparent, and effective manner,” said Tho.

As legal foundations solidify and green finance gains traction, FiinRatings experts anticipate Vietnam’s sustainable debt instruments, particularly green bonds, will thrive, becoming an essential capital-raising tool for environmentally friendly infrastructure and development projects.

VIR