The second phase of the project got off the ground in 2003 with the WB’s loan of US$235 million. RFP II is intended to assist economic development in rural areas and raise local people’s living standards by encouraging private investments, especially farm household businesses. It also aims to enhance the banking system’s capability to better serve the rural economy and increase the possibilities for poor people to access financial services.

By the end of September, 2009, the entire capital of RFP II was disbursed for more than 444,000 small projects of rural families and businesses nationwide.

The project manager, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), has organised dozens of training courses on environmental protection for staff of credits organisations to help them discover those projects that fail to meet environmental requirements for taking loans.

The success of RFP II has led to the WB’s decision to grant US$200 million in loans to the third phase of the project even though the second phase has not yet been finished. RFP III is expected to disburse US$19.7 million for more than 3,100 small projects next month.