On August 24, 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), organized a Roundtable discussion on Access to Finance for Women-Owned Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (WSMEs). BIDV is one of the leading commercial banks in implementation progress of the credit support programs for WSMEs.
The Roundtable Discussion was attended by Ms. Khuong Thanh Ha, Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the SBV; Mr. Donald Lambert, Principal Private Sector Development Specialist, the ADB’s Viet Nam Resident Mission; together with representatives of several relevant agencies, the SBV’s entities, international organizations, associations, commercial banks, and other experts.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in general and women-owned SMEs in particular play an important role in creating jobs and generating income for workers, reducing poverty, promoting economic growth. However, these customers have been facing a lot of difficulties and challenges, including lack of financial access.
At the Roundtable Discussion, the participants also exchanged and discussed about potential policies to support women-owned SMEs to access credit resources from commercial banks; listened to an overview presentation on the ADB-supported project on “Promoting Transformative Gender Equality Agenda in Asia and the Pacific”, and the draft report of the ADB’s study on Access to Finance for Women-Owned SMEs, within the framework of the Women Accelerating Vibrant Enterprises in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (WAVES) program. The participants also discussed several key points and the relevant findings on financial accessibility of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam from the perspectives of both the supply and the demand sides; the challenges and policies to promote access to finance for women-owned SMEs; the implementation progress of the credit support programs for women-owned SMEs by the commercial banks; the international experience in enhancing financial access for women-owned SMEs; etc.
