Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)The Vietnamese financial market will witness the start of numerous agricultural credit products as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, rolls out a handbook to develop credit packages for farmers and enterprises.
Agriculture has played a crucial role in Vietnam’s economy and development, said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC’s country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
He said the IFC was fostering financial support in the agricultural sector, given that long-term capital and reasonable interest rates would help Vietnamese farmers and agricultural enterprises increase their income and create more export revenue.
The handbook will support financial institutions in the country as they design and implement new credit products. The book will give them some insight on the risks and opportunities in agriculture credit, and ways to manage and mitigate risk by adjusting internal processes and suitable loan models. It aims to foster economic growth and create jobs.
It also shares the experiences of regional financial organisations that have successfully implemented the packages.
The handbook was built under a programme to develop agricultural finance and consultancies after harvest in Vietnam. It was sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, aiming to support sustainable development in rural areas.
The progamme is expected to help farmers earn 36.6 million USD more by the end of 2019.
The IFC will help by increasing the financial organisations’ capacity and helping them expand their financial services in the agricultural sector./.