In Hanoi:
Phan Thuy Huong
Phone: +84 4 934 2282
E-mail: PHuong@ifc.org

In Hong Kong:
Andrew Mak
Phone: +852 2509 8110
E-mail: AMak@ifc.org


Hanoi, April 3, 2008—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced that it has extended a loan to Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) to help small and medium enterprises gain better access to finance in Vietnam.  The 320 billion Vietnamese dong loan (about $20 million), IFC’s first for SME financing in the country, reinforces the long-standing partnership between the two organizations.

In addition to the long-term local currency loan, IFC will provide Techcombank with a trade finance line of up to $10 million and advisory services for small businesses.  The trade finance line will be part of the IFC Global Trade Finance Program.

Luu Thi Anh Xuan, Vice President of Techcombank, said, “We now serve more than 20,000 SMEs, which make up about 65 percent of our outstanding loans. SME banking will continue to be the main focus of our strategy. We provide a package of financial products and services to best meet their demands. These range from traditional products like working capital financing, trade financing, payments, and account services to more advanced products such as factoring, logistic financing, and supply-chain financing. With IFC’s financing and advisory services, we hope to further enhance our support and funding activities for our SME customers.”

Sin Foong Wong, IFC Country Manager for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam, said, “This partnership with Techcombank is very important in helping Vietnam’s small and midsize businesses gain access to finance as there is a large segment of the private sector that has been traditionally underserved by banks. By expanding credit access to SMEs, we are hoping to catalyze funding from other commercial sources for further lending to support the sector.”  

IFC began working with Techcombank in 2001 and has helped improve the bank’s risk management capacity by providing advice on modernizing its core banking system, including services for SMEs. With IFC’s advisory support, Techcombank and nine other shareholder banks have launched the Bank Training Center, Vietnam’s first and only institution to provide affordable training with international standards for the commercial banking industry. Most recently, with IFC’s support, Techcombank and ten other Vietnamese banks have invested in a holding company to set up the country’s first private credit bureau.