When Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the French Development Agency (AFD), looked to increase its engagement with Vietnam earlier this year, it partnered with Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or MSB, led by CEO Nguyen Hoang Linh. The Opec Fund for International Development did the same.
Both wanted to tap into Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises using a bank with unrivalled connections to the nation’s biggest and most economically important sector.
Proparco signed a $30 million senior credit facility with the bank to finance SMEs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. The support, the first of its kind for either party, includes technical assistance on environmental and social risk management to aid the bank and its clients in adopting best international standards.
The Opec fund is providing $40 million to the bank to support at least 80 Vietnamese SMEs. The rationale: SMEs account for most businesses and provide more than half of the nation’s overall employment. MSB is a systemically important bank that is critical to the stability of SMEs and their access to global markets.