On December 19, 2018 in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in cooperation with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) organized a seminar on MIGA’s guarantee products for foreign direct investment projects in Vietnam and Vietnamese companies planning to invest abroad. Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Vice President and COO of MIGA Vijay Iyer co-chaired the Seminar.
Also attending the seminar were Mr. Ousmane Dione, the World Bank Country Director for Vietnam; Mr. Timothy Histed, Head of South & South East Asia and Singapore Office Representative of MIGA; and Mr. Kyle Kelhofer, Senior Country Manager for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). On the Vietnamese side, there were representatives from the SBV departments, the relevant ministries, commercial banks, enterprises...
In her opening speech, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong congratulated MIGA on the occasion of MIGA’s 30th anniversary. Vietnam has officially been a member of MIGA since 1994. Since then, the SBV has acted as the representative body of the Government of Vietnam at the WB’s agencies and has signed letters approving MIGA to provide guarantees for 9 projects in Vietnam with a maximum guarantee value of over USD 1.1 billion.
Speaking at the Seminar, Mr.Timothy Histed, Head of South & South East Asia and Singapore Office Representative of MIGA, emphasized the benefits of MIGA's guarantees. He shared that MIGA's products consist of Political Risk Insurance (PRI) and Non-Honoring of Financial Obligations (NHFO). Recently, MIGA has expanded the scope of its guarantees to state-owned enterprises. In addition, as a bridge for investors, the involvement of MIGA has initially supported the settlement of investment disputes, helping the parties to reach agreements on the level of compensation (if any).
The representative from MIGA also made a presentation about the process of guarantee and the relevant regulations. Especially, the international experts answered the questions from the participants about the orientations, products and needs of MIGA in Vietnam in the coming time.
The Seminar would be a bridge to assist businesses and commercial banks to have more opportunities of exchanging information and seeking investment. The SBV hopes that in the future, the cooperation between Vietnamese enterprises and MIGA will be further strengthened in order to create new potentials and opportunities for cooperation and investment for both sides. The Government of Vietnam in general, and the SBV in particular, wishes that MIGA would not only support Vietnam by sharing its experience, but also assist Vietnam to have more support funds for its economic development, especially finance for the private sector.
Le Hang