IFC and SMBC Help Expand Finance for Small Businesses and Support Job Creation in Viet Nam

HANOI, Viet Nam, November 10, 2026 — A landmark $730 million financing package for Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) is expected to support more than 100,000 new small and medium enterprise (SME) loans by 2030, helping Vietnamese businesses access longer-term finance to invest, grow, and create jobs. The financing is also expected to more than double VPBank's outreach to women-owned SMEs and more than triple the number of agricultural SMEs served.

The facility was co-arranged by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The transaction is the largest syndicated financing IFC has arranged for a financial institution in Viet Nam and marks IFC's first syndication in the country undertaken in collaboration with a global commercial bank. It brings together development finance institutions and international private lenders, combining IFC's long-standing partnership with VPBank, mobilization platform, and structuring expertise with SMBC's global banking network and syndication capabilities.

Within the overall $730 million financing package, IFC's $150 million investment helped mobilize $295 million in additional private capital from international commercial banks and insurers. The transaction also enables IFC to provide its first seven-year loan to a Vietnamese bank, helping expand access to longer-term financing for SMEs to invest and grow.

"The financing needs of Vietnamese SMEs are far greater than what any single institution can provide," said Allen Forlemu, IFC Regional Director for Financial Institutions Group, Asia and the Pacific. "By mobilizing private capital alongside our own investment, we can scale the resources available to businesses well beyond our own balance sheet, significantly expanding access to finance for companies that drive jobs and economic growth across Viet Nam."

The facility will help VPBank expand lending to SMEs, a segment that contributes around 50 percent of Viet Nam's GDP and 80 percent of employment but continues to face significant financing constraints. Access to finance remains particularly limited for women-owned businesses and agricultural SMEs, despite their important contribution to economic growth, jobs, and livelihoods.

The transaction is expected to support more than 100,000 new SME loans by 2030, more than doubling VPBank's outreach to women-owned SMEs and more than tripling the number of agricultural SMEs served, while expanding access to longer-term financing for business growth and investment.

"The $730 million facility further affirms the international financial community's confidence in VPBank's capabilities and development strategy," said Nguyen Duc Vinh, Chief Executive Officer of VPBank. "This funding allows us to strengthen our support for SME customers, WSMEs, and agricultural SMEs, turning our commitment to growth and sustainable development into tangible outcomes while creating long-term value for shareholders, customers and society."

"International investors are increasingly looking for opportunities that combine strong commercial fundamentals with meaningful development impact," said Jeanne Soh, Managing Director, Co-Head of Structured Finance Department Asia Pacific. " In this transaction, IFC and SMBC provided a common structuring platform that mobilised a diverse lender group at scale, while keeping the financing anchored to clear development outcomes ."

The transaction builds on more than 15 years of partnership between IFC and VPBank. Complementing this financing, IFC will support VPBank in strengthening its agri-finance capabilities and expanding financing for agricultural SMEs. Supported by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), this builds on broader collaboration to advance sustainable finance and climate-smart agriculture in Viet Nam.

By expanding access to longer-term financing for SMEs, the VPBank facility also supports the objectives of the World Bank Group's recently launched strategy for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which aims to build scalable, replicable ecosystems where businesses are visible, connected, enabled, and funded to grow and create jobs.