Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc onMarch 26 asked the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(Agribank) to strive to become one of the leading commercial banks in theregion.

He made the request while attending a ceremonyin Hanoi marking the 30th founding anniversary (March 26, 1988) of Agribank,the only commercial bank whose charter capital is completely owned by theState.

Agribank now owns nearly 2,300 branches andtransaction offices with almost 40,000 employees. It is also the onlycommercial bank to be present in nine island districts nationwide. 

The bank is the partner of more than 30,000businesses and millions of farmer households. It has also sent over 600 mobilebanking vans to all corners of the country to bring bank credits to ruralresidents.

Agribank reported that it spends about 400million – 500 billion VND (17.6 million – 22 million USD) each year on socialactivities, especially education and health care, the fields that directlyinfluence people’s daily life.

Congratulating the bank’s excellentachievements, PM Phuc said Agribank has done a good job of providing financefor and supporting agriculture, farmers and rural areas. It, along with thebanking system nationwide, has helped turn Vietnam from a food importer into aleading rice exporter in the world.

He also applauded the bank’s breakthroughs insupplying credits for farmer households, thus greatly contributing to povertyreduction and becoming a trustworthy partner of farmers. It has also activelyengaged in the restructuring of credit organisations and settlement of baddebt.

Pointing out some shortcomings of Agribank, heasked the bank to push ahead with restructuring credit organisations andsolving non-performing loans, which is also a key task of the whole bankingsector.

It needs to better carry out the task ofpromoting the development of agriculture and rural areas so as to bring aboutmore benefits for farmers and help attain socio-economic development targetsset by the Party and the State. It also needs to step up providing loans forcooperatives and micro and small enterprises in rural areas.

In his speech, PM Phuc told Agribank toimplement synchronous measures to increase charter capital, improve itsfinancial capacity, and ensure that its safety standards are in line withinternational norms.

Notably, he requested the bank to absorb thelessons of recent problems, augment internal inspection and auditing, increasecapacity, and enhance the fight against corruption and negative phenomena. Itshould also press on with IT application to improve its competitiveness,develop high-quality manpower, and reform governance.

At the ceremony, PM Phuc presented the Labour Order(first class) to Agribank to recognise its outstanding performance.-VNA