ADB Approves US$60M Loans to Support Vietnamese SMEs

ADB Approves US$60M Loans to Support Vietnamese SMEs

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged a US$60 million loan for Vietnam to help improve the country’s business environment for small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The project will support and develop policies to facilitate SME operations and give companies easier access to land and financial resources. It will also eliminate international industrial and technical standard barriers faced by SMEs to improve their ability to access the global market.

The programme supports cost-effective company registration and licensing systems and procedures, a coordinated inter-ministerial plan for SME development, a simplified accounting system for SMEs, enhanced use of registration for secured transactions, pilot-testing of a national land registration system, and development of industrial and technical standards in Vietnam.

The ADB, together with the Danish and Swiss governments, will also grant Vietnam US$1.4 million in non-refundable technical assistance to carry out the plan.

Meanwhile, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and the German bank KFW will provide Vietnam with EUR25 million and EUR20 million, respectively.

• L.A