SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh receives GIZ Program Director for Vietnam

At the meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh welcomed Mr. Dennis Quennet and the GIZ mission to visit and work with the SBV. The SBV Deputy Governor also wished Mr. Quennet a successful office term in his new position, contributing to maintaining, connecting and developing the relations between the two sides in the coming time.

Talking about promoting green finance development, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh shared that, implementing the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the 2014 - 2020 period signed by the Prime Minister, since 2015, the SBV had issued many documents aiming to promote green banking and finance, such as: the SBV Governor’s Directive on promoting green credit growth and managing environmental risks in credit granting activities (March 2015); the banking sector’s Action Plan to implement the National Strategy on Green Growth to 2020 (August 2015); issuing guidelines for credit institutions to report on credit granting for 12 green areas, and conduct assessments of environmental and social risks in credit activities. In August 2020, the Prime Minister issued a Decision approving the Development Strategy of Vietnam Banking Sector to 2025, with orientations to 2030, which contains an important component confirming the orientation of the banking industry toward promoting the development of green banking and green credit with substantive results. Right after that, the SBV Governor also issued a Decision approving the Scheme on green bank development in the new period.

The Deputy Governor emphasized that in promoting green economic development in Vietnam, the banking system plays an important role in providing credit sources for the projects and the investment into production and business of the enterprises in both public and private sectors. When banking operations in general and credit activities in particular strongly shift toward green finance and banking, the economy will also move in that direction. In the banking system in Vietnam, from awareness to action, there has been a gradual change in the direction of paying more attention to green banking development and activities linked with environmental protection. The SBV has also been implementing many measures to connect Vietnamese enterprises with project proposals that meet the requirements and standards to access green credit capital provided by international organizations. The Deputy Governor expected and believed that these results would lay a very good foundation for Vietnam's economy to gradually transition to a green economy. However, these are only initial results, and the difficulties and challenges in the process of green economy development are huge, especially in light of Vietnam's strong commitments made at COP26, which require the banking sector to take responsibility and specific actions to achieve those committed goals.

SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh speaks at the meeting.

Sharing about the digital transformation, the SBV Deputy Governor said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) has far-reaching impacts on all aspects of the economic and social life, including banking operations. Vietnam’s banking industry had engaged very early and taken multiple actions to promote the application of the achievements of the IR 4.0. Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh further said that digital transformation is not a trend but an inevitable part of the banking operations. All banks need to consider it as a business strategy with a long-term vision, and they need to enhance the cooperation to develop an ecosystem. From 2017 to 2020, the banking system in Vietnam, especially commercial banks, pioneered in digitalizing many operations. The banking sector has been one of the leading industries to apply the achievements of the IR 4.0. In 2021, the SBV Governor issued the Digital Transformation Strategy to 2025, with orientations to 2030 in order to establish a common and unified vision and action in the digital transformation of the banking sector.

Regarding the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to 2025, Vision to 2030, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh shared that the Strategy's goal is that people in all parts of the country can access basic banking services, thereby improving their lives. Many Ministries, agencies and local authorities have engaged strongly in this process and have achieved some initial results; however, more needs to be done in order to achieve the set targets by 2025.

Mr. Dennis Quennet speaks at the meeting.

On the GIZ's side, Mr. Dennis Quennet, Program Director/Chief Advisor of the GIZ Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Program in Vietnam made high evaluation for the efforts and results achieved by the SBV in contributing to the implementation of Vietnam's National Green Growth Strategy. He believed in the SBV’s important role in the process of greening the economy, as well as in the digital transformation in the banking industry. Agreeing with the SBV's people-centered approach, Mr. Dennis Quennet emphasized that in the process of greening the economy and the banking system, the social aspects and financial inclusion should also be taken into careful consideration. He affirmed that in the future, under the authorization of the German Government, the GIZ would enhance and focus more support to the financial and banking sector, especially on issues related to the climate change response as outlined in COP26.

LK