Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) on Sunday inked a Commitment Letter on a bilateral loan worth US$300 million with a seven-year tenor.

The loan arranged by DFC is aimed at improving small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to finance, especially women-owned, women-led, and climate-focused SMEs in Vietnam, the bank said in a press release the same day.

The ceremony for the Commitment Letter signing between DFC and VPBank was held at the bank’s headquarters in Hanoi on Sunday morning, witnessed by U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, DFC CEO Scott Nathan, and VPBank Chairman Ngo Chi Dzung, along with other leaders of both organizations.

DFC, the U.S. government’s development finance institution, was established in 2019 under the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act and focuses on bringing private capital to the developing world.

Its mission is to promote U.S. diplomatic policies and catalyze investment in private sector-led development.

The signing ceremony took place within the framework of the state visit of U.S. President Joe Biden to Vietnam from Sunday to Monday, on the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership, demonstrating the two countries’ positive and increasingly tightened cooperative relationship in many areas.

The approval of the loan from DFC, a U.S. government agency with international benchmarks and prudent credit appraisal standards and processes, to VPBank has once again affirmed the lender’s position as the market-leading commercial bank in Vietnam.

The $300-million loan comes with a seven-year tenor. 

This loan will serve as an important source of financing to help strengthen VPBank’s capital base, which in turn will promote sustainable lending activities in line with the bank’s growth strategy.

These include supporting SMEs, women-owned or women-led SMEs, as well as shifting the bank’s portfolios toward climate-focused and low-carbon technology projects. 

Over the past years, VPBank has always been one of the leading banks in Vietnam that move ahead with environmental, social, and climate contribution through developing and acting on a sustainable and consistent financial development strategy with clear awareness of accountable lending principles.

Prior to the loan extended by DFC, VPBank has been able to secure a number of large-sized syndicated loans worth over a billion dollars since 2020 from reputable lenders worldwide.

In particular, VPBank fruitfully mobilized a $500-million syndicated loan at the end of 2022 from five reputable financial institutions, namely the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ANZ Bank, and Maybank Securities Pte. Ltd.

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