On November 11, 2019 in Ho Chi Minh City, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in cooperation with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) organized the fourth APEC Supply Chain Finance Conference with the theme of “How to develop a supply chain finance (SCF) market in the context of emerging economies?”.
Attending the conference were about 200 participants and speakers from the regional countries, including representatives from the Government ministries and agencies, namely the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; the international organizations such as the IFC, the WB, SECO, ABAC; SCF service providers, SCF leading companies and distributors; commercial banks, corporations and enterprises. On the SBV’s side, there were representatives from the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, the Department for Legal Affairs and the International Cooperation Department.
Speaking at the conference, Ms. Ha Thu Giang, Deputy Director General of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, assessed that the participation in the supply chains and SCF is an effective solution and a development trend for banking operations, enabling banks to control their cash flows, increase credit access for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) when taking part in the supply chains.
Ms. Ha Thu Giang, Deputy Director General of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors
The Deputy Director General of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors also shared that the SBV has been in the process of formulating and revising the legal documents to create a framework for supporting and promoting the supply chain operations. In addition, Vietnamese commercial banks have started to pay attention and been actively promoting programs and products of SCF. However, at present, she said SCF is still facing many difficulties due to the lack of statistics and transparency in corporate financial information, as well as an effective corporate governance mechanism (finance, labor, technology, etc.), big data and an e-platform for transactions.
Also at the Conference, several international and national experts made presentations on: (i) summarizing the development process of trade and supply chain finance market in Vietnam and in the Asia-Pacific region: (ii) opportunities and challenges for developing the SCF market in Vietnam; (iii) SCF in the agricultural sector; and (iv) support services for SCF.
At the end of the Conference, Mr. Jingchang Lai, Lead Financial Sector and Infrastructure Specialist of the IFC, assessed that the Conference was a precious opportunity for the parties to exchange their knowledge and practical experience to promote SCF activities in the emerging economies, including Vietnam. It also helped the Government ministries and agencies to have some ground for further research and improvement of the legal framework for the SCF market in Vietnam.
Le Hang