On October 27, 2022, in Hanoi, the Banking Review, a magazine issued by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), organized an International Conference on Green Credit, Green Banking Towards Sustainable Development in Vietnam. The Conference was attended by SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha, together with representatives from several Ministries and agencies, the SBV entities, international organizations, commercial banks, specialists and scientists, etc.
SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha speaks at the Conference
In his opening speech at the Conference, Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha shared that, based on the directions of the Government and the Prime Minister, over the past time, the policies and legal frameworks on green credit and green banking have been gradually improved. The SBV Governor had issued Directive No.03/CT-NHNN dated March 24, 2015 on promoting green credit and managing environmental and social risks in credit granting activities; Decision No.1552/QD-NHNN dated August 6, 2015 promulgating the Action Plan of the banking sector to implement the National Strategy on Green Growth until 2020. These had been guiding policies for the green banking development in Vietnam, ensuring the relevance and supporting the green growth process of the entire economy.
In addition, the SBV had also issued the Scheme on Green Banking Development in Vietnam, the SBV's Plan of Action to implement Resolution No. 54/NQ-CP dated April 12, 2022 of the Government, which mentions green credit and green banking as a means to promote bank credit for low-carbon emission production and consumption sectors.
The SBV Deputy Governor emphasized that, with the orientations and directions from the Party, the State and the SBV as well as the efforts of the credit institutions, there had been positive changes in green credit with increasing attention and the rising investment limits. According to a survey done by the SBV, the understanding of the credit institutions about green growth and green credit has been raised and improved significantly. Many credit institutions have developed their own strategies for environmental and social risk management; integrated environmental and social risk management into the green credit appraisal process; developed credit products and banking services for the green areas, etc.
Although there have been positive signs, the development of this field in Vietnam has not reached the pace as expected. The development of green banking activities at Vietnamese credit institutions has been facing many difficulties and challenges.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Bac, Deputy Director General of the SBV Department of Credit for Economic Sectors
At the Conference, representatives from the SBV Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, as well as the MoF Institute for Financial Strategy and Policy and the World Bank Group (WBG) made presentations on the specific topics, including a comprehensive review of the policies to promote green credit and green banking in Vietnam in recent years; the achieved results, limitations, difficulties and possible solutions; the current situation of green financial market development in Vietnam and some policy recommendations; the resource mobilization and recommendations for green credit, green capital market towards sustainable development in Vietnam, etc. Besides, the WBG representative also presented some suggestions for the Government, the relevant Ministries and agencies in Vietnam regarding the mobilization and allocation of financial resources so that Vietnam could achieve its net zero emission target by 2050.
Ms. Michele Wee, Chairwoman of the Banking Working Group
The participants also joined two discussion sessions. The first session focused on "Improving the legal framework for green credit, green finance, green banking towards sustainable development in Vietnam", and the second session was about "International experience in the provision of green credit, green finance and green banking, the practical situation in Vietnam, some recommendations and solutions".
Toward the end of the Conference, SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha hoped that the useful information shared at the Conference would contribute to the promotion of green credit, green finance and green banking towards sustainable development in Vietnam. The SBV Deputy Governor also requested the Banking Review to make a record summarizing all recommendations made at the Conference, and share this record with the relevant authorities to form some scientific comments to be used as the basis for the orientations and the formulation of possible solutions to promote green credit, green finance and green banking towards sustainable development in Vietnam.
Le Hang