At a press conference in Hanoi on August 6, Citibank Vietnam General Director Brett Krause said the award aims to assist Vietnamese micro-entrepreneurs in doing business and encourage them to provide financial services for the poor.

It will also honour outstanding micro-businesses who helped improve living conditions, create jobs for local people and contribute to local economic development, he added.

The director highlighted Vietnam’s achievements in poverty reduction and its high growth rate of micro finance.

He also said that about 80 percent of Vietnamese poor people will be likely to receive micro financial services, mainly short-term loans and savings.

The award, worth VND5-9 million each, will be presented by the Vietnam Micro-Finance Working Group and the Citibank’s fund in December as scheduled.

Last year, 60 outstanding micro entrepreneurs and 30 credit officials from rural and isolated areas of Vietnam who escaped from poverty and succeeded in business thanks to micro-loans received the award.

Since its establishment in 1993, the US bank has so far financed more than VND15 billion for volunteer and community programmes in Vietnam and it has made a lot of contributions to the country’s financial market.