JICA partners VP Bank in promoting financial access for women-led SMS in Vietnam
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on October 20 signed a 75 million USD loan agreement with the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VP Bank) to promote financial access among women-led small and medium-sized enterprises through Private Sector Investment and Finance (PSIF).
Hanoi (VNA) – The Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA) on October 20 signed a 75 million USD loan agreement with theVietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) to promote financialaccess among women-led small and medium-sized enterprises through PrivateSector Investment and Finance (PSIF).
The loan is in line with the “Initiatives on overseas loans and investment forASEAN announced by the Government of Japan in 2019 and is implemented by utilisingthe “Facility for Accelerating Finance Inclusion in Asia:FAIA”.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 98.7 percent of the totalnumber of enterprises in Vietnam, 45 percent of the country's gross domesticproduct and attract 63 percent of employment. However, their access to financeis limited, especially, access to finance is a big hindrance for women-ledSMEs.
In accordance with the initiative of the "2X Challenge: Financing forWomen" launched by financial institutions of the G7 countries, JICAprovides more than 30 percent of the total loan amount for women-owned enterprisesthrough VP Bank.
The loan will contribute to Vietnam's sustainable economicgrowth and sustainable development goals on gender equality, building resilientinfrastructure, and fostering a global partnership for sustainable development.
VPBank has been engaged for many years in improving financial access for smallenterprises as one of the intermediary financial institutions in the JapaneseODA loan Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Finance Project that was approvedin 2009.
JICA has been supporting the enhancement of women’s financial access in Vietnamthrough the technical cooperation project for promoting gender-responsivefinancial inclusion through Vietnam Women’s Union since 2019./.
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At the event. (Photo courtesy of JICA) 
