Vietnam’s HDBank has signed a credit agreement with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Trade Finance Program (TFP) to support Vietnamese trade.
Backed by ADB’s AAA credit rating, the TFP will provide trade loans to HDBank, which it will on-lend to its customers to support their import and export activities. The Global Trade Review reported.
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The TFP provides guarantees and loans to 240 participating financial institutions in support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The participating financial institutions must meet all requirements set by ADB, including operational efficiency, financial health, risk management, information transparency, development strategy, leadership and vision.
“We have had a relationship with HDBank since 2016 and we are pleased to be able to both deepen that relationship and to further increase our commitment to boost trade in Vietnam,” says Can Sutken, ADB relationship manager for Vietnam.
Since 2004, the TFP has supported US$13.5bn in trade in Vietnam through 13,530 transactions covering both guarantees and direct funding, nearly two-thirds of which support SMEs. It currently counts 14 commercial bank partnerships in the country.