IFC Partners with Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank to Increase Lending to Smaller Businesses and Women-Owned SMEs in Vietnam, Promote Climate Finance

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Hanoi, Vietnam, June 28, 2021—To support local businesses and help them make a resilient recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, IFC is providing a $40 million loan to Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank). The first phase of an up to $150 million financing package, the funding package will help expand lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially women-owned businesses, increase access to climate finance, and boost international trade opportunities.

The package will comprise up to $80 million from IFC's own account and $50 million to be mobilized from international lenders, in addition to a $20 million trade finance line. While the investment aims to increase SeABank's SME lending portfolio, at least $20 million will be earmarked for women-owned SMEs, with support from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). With a strategy to expand its reach to women-owned and -led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs), IFC's funding will help the bank triple its current WSME lending, accounting for about 25 percent of its total SME portfolio by 2024.

Climate finance is a new area in Vietnam with a $753 billion climate investment opportunity between 2016 and 2030 as the country aims to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 9 percent by 2030 to mitigate climate change impact. IFC is helping SeABank to support this country need with $30 million to be allocated for climate-friendly projects. Further, IFC's support is expected to help SeABank build a $60 million climate-finance portfolio by 2024.

"IFC's long-term financing and technical advice will enable SeABank to focus on two strategic segments—WSMEs and climate financing—and position itself as a bank of choice for women-owned businesses and climate-friendly projects over the next five years," said Le Thu Thuy, General Director of SeABank. "Given the pandemic, IFC's timely investment also allows us to extend support to more businesses at a critical time while contributing to the stability of Vietnam's overall financial market."

IFC will advise the bank to develop a banking on women strategy to help bridge the $4.9 billion financing gap of WSMEs, accounting for more than one-fifth of the SME financing gap in Vietnam. The bank will further support green building and energy efficiency projects, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"IFC's new partnership with SeABank reaffirms IFC's commitment to support the continued development of a strong financial sector in Vietnam" said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. "Our investment in SeABank reiterates our confidence in the bank and its strategic direction to increase financing for SMEs and climate investments, furthering green and inclusive growth, and helping Vietnam build back better from the COVID pandemic."

IFC's $20 million trade guarantee line under its Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) will boost SeABank's capacity to provide financing for importers and exporters to minimize trade disruption given the ongoing pandemic. Participation in GTFP will enable SeABank to join a network of more than 500 bank partners in nearly 100 emerging-market countries. 

About IFC

IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org. 

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About SeABank
Established in 1994, SeABank is one of the leading joint stock commercial banks in Vietnam with nearly 1.6 million customers, over 4,000 employees and up to 180 transaction points nationwide. SeABank's goal is to become a favorite retail bank with a customer-centric strategy by offering a diverse range of financial products and services to individuals, small and large businesses. SeABank is one of the influential banks in the Vietnamese banking system with a charter capital of nearly VND 12,088 billion, rated B1 by Moody's and fully meets all 3 pillars of Basel II standards.

For details, please visit website: www.seabank.com.vn. 

About We-Fi
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) is a collaborative partnership among the 14 governments that have made financial contributions, six multilateral development banks that serve as implementing partners, and other public and private stakeholders. We-Fi was formally established in October 2017 as a Financial Intermediary Fund hosted by the World Bank. We-Fi invests in programs and projects that help unlock billions of dollars in financing to address the full range of barriers facing women entrepreneurs—increasing access to finance, markets, technology, and mentoring, while strengthening policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. As one of the We-Fi Implementing Partners, IFC supports private sector clients with investment and advisory services to expand financial services and market access for women-owned/led firms, as well as increasing the capacity of women entrepreneurs to run high-growth businesses. For more information, visit www.we-fi.org.