On November 19, 2024, the Closing Ceremony of the Strengthening the People’s Credit Funds Network Project (STEP Project) was organized in Hanoi. First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended and delivered a keynote speech at the Ceremony.
First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu speaks at the Ceremony
In his statement at the Ceremony, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu acknowledged and highly commended the efforts of all stakeholders in implementing the STEP Project. The Project has contributed significantly to the goal of restructuring the credit institution system set by the Government and the SBV. In addition, it has contributed to the implementation of the CPV’s policy of developing cooperative economic models, which play a critical role in the national development process.
The Project has been implemented in accordance with the general trend and Vietnam’s aspiration of building a stable financial system, and developing sustainable and inclusive finance.
On behalf of the Government of Vietnam, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu thanked the Government of Canada, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and Développement International Desjardins (DID) for their strong support in the Project, and hoped to continue to receive more assistance to help the People's Credit Funds (PCF) in Vietnam to conduct more restructuring, and to build a new operational mechanism in alignment with the practical situation and the general development of the country.
Mr. Shawn Steil, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Vietnam, affirmed that this has been the biggest bilateral project between Canada and Vietnam in the past 8 years. The total project budget was CAD 19.1 million, of which CAD 18.1 million was non-refundable grant from Canada, and CAD 924,000 was the counterpart fund from Co-opBank.
Mr. Shawn Steil, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Vietnam
Confirming that the Project has contributed to promoting the cooperative relationship between the two countries, Ambassador Shawn Steil expected that in the future, the ties between the Government of Vietnam, especially Vietnamese credit institutions, and the Government of Canada would be further strengthened.
According to Mr. Nguyen Thac Tam, Deputy General Director of the Cooperative Bank of Vietnam (Co-opBank), the Project had been implemented at 12 Co-opBank branches and 75 PCFs across the country, covering all 3 big regions, i.e. the North, the Central Region and the South. The Project’s goal had been to reduce the rural poverty in Vietnam through enhancing Co-opBank's capacity in supporting and supervising the member PCFs, and increasing the PCFs’ capabilities in providing sustainable financial products and services to meet the demands of rural customers, especially women, while still ensuring both profitability and safety standards.
Mr. Claude Lafond, Field Director of the STEP Project, expressed his pride that the Project had contributed to promoting financial inclusion in Vietnam, not only providing capital to the people, but also contributing to the stability and the development of the local economy.
Mr. Claude Lafond, Field Director of the STEP Project
Mr. Claude Lafond emphasized that more than 10,000 people had benefited from the Project. More than 400 officers of the PCFs had obtained new skills in order to improve their consultancy to the customers, and provide them with more suitable products. The Project had also provided the credit officers with a comprehensive toolkit for assessing credit risks in their customers' production plans, thereby giving the customers advice on possible solutions to minimize those risks. In addition, the development and implementation of the E-Banking has created a useful system, helping the people to access modern and effective banking services, especially those in rural areas. Nearly 13,000 people have accessed the information provided via Co-opSmart financial education application, of which female customers accounted for 58%. Thereby, those customers had better understood the financial services that they could access and use through the People's Credit Funds. The Project had also developed a Marketing Toolkit, which is now used by 35 PCFs to improve the people’s access to financial products.
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