Microfinance sector targets sustainable development
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the French Development Agency (AFD) have jointly held a workshop to map out development orientations for the microfinance sector in Vietnam.
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The event took place in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on July 15-16 as part of a technical assistance project to improve legal framework and enhance management and inspection capacity in the field.
Deputy Director of the Department of Credit Institutions and Banking Activities Licensing Management under the SBV’s Supervision and Inspection Agency Hoang Quoc Manh said the project has been implemented since October 2013 to help the SBV develop sustainable and effective microfinance sector, providing various financial products for low-income people, and micro and small enterprises.
Participants discussed microfinance development trends and strategies, as well as difficulties and challenges faced by microfinance projects.
Microfinance constitutes an effective tool to reduce poverty in many countries around the world, including Vietnam, experts said.
They suggested micro financial institutions diversify their services and improve quality to ensure sustainable poverty reduction.
Vietnam has three formal micro financial institutions and 300 semi-formal programmes. 80% of the programmes have outstanding debts of below VND3 billion (US$135,000).
