IFC Helps Expand Financial Services for Micro Firms in Vietnam

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private investment arm of the World Bank (WB), on April 28 said that it will work with a Vietnamese partner to ease micro companies’ access to financial services. Under a recently signed agreement, IFC will help M7 Microfinance Institution Limited (M7-MFI) extend its financial advisory services to small and micro enterprises in Vietnam, which are in need of money to expand their operations. The partnership will help M7-MFI improve its capacity and provide more services to clients, M7 General Director Nguyen Duc Binh said. Rachel Freeman, IFC manager for Access to Finance Advisory Services in East Asia and the Pacific, said Vietnam’s microfinance sector is in a transitional period when a number of local microfinance organizations are becoming official institutions and integrating into the financial system. As of February 2014, M7-MFI had provided $4.7 million in loans to individuals and micro enterprises. SMEs account for more than 95% of Vietnam’s total number of enterprises and are one of the driving forces of economic development. However, they often find it hard to access loans to grow their business, experts said. (vietnamplus.vn Apr 28, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times Apr 29 p2, Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Apr 29)