Vietnam Gov’t Oks Negotiation for ADB Loan to Support SMEs
Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has agreed the State Bank of Vietnam to negotiate with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan agreement on supporting local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The agreement will serve Sub-program1 under the Second Small SMEs Development Program, the government said on its website September 6.
The state bank is assigned to conduct a two-day negotiation with the ADB in Hanoi right after the Ministry of Planning and Investment completes all necessary procedures.
Vietnam currently has more than 450,000 enterprises, and 97% of which were SMEs that created 90% of the national total jobs and contribute 40% of the country’s GDP.
Experts, however, said three-fourths of Vietnamese SMEs have accepted to take loans from the unofficial market with over highly interest rates as they found it hard to access to loans at local banks, state media reported.
They attributed that their shortage of assets is the biggest barrier of all for SMEs trying to get a bank loan. Capitals for SMEs have accounted for a small portion of the total outstanding loans of local lenders. (chinhphu.vn)
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