The Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) have signed a Commitment Letter on a bilateral loan of $300 million with a seven-year tenor.

Arranged by DFC, the loan aims to improve access by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to finance, especially women-owned, women-led, and climate-focused SMEs in Vietnam.

The signing ceremony between DFC and VPBank was held at VPBank’s headquarters in Hanoi on the morning of September 10, witnessed by US Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Marc Knapper, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, DFC CEO Scott Nathan, and VPBank Chairman Ngo Chi Dzung, along with other leaders from both organizations.

The US Government’s development finance institution, the DFC was established in 2019 under the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act and focuses on bringing private capital to the developing world. Its mission is to promote US diplomatic policies and catalyze investment in private sector-led development.

The signing ceremony took place within the framework of the official visit to Vietnam by US President Joe Biden on September 10 and 11, on the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership, demonstrating the two countries’ positive and increasingly tightened cooperative relationship.

The approval of the loan from DFC once again affirms VPBank’s position as the market-leading commercial bank in Vietnam.

The $300 million (VND7.2 trillion) loan comes with a seven-year tenor. It will serve as an important source of financing to help strengthen VPBank’s capital base, which in turn will promote sustainable lending activities in line with the bank’s growth strategy. These include supporting SMEs and women-owned or women-led SMEs, and shifting the bank’s portfolio towards climate-focused and low-carbon technology projects.

Over recent years, VPBank has been among the leading banks in Vietnam in moving ahead with environmental, social, and climate contributions through developing and acting on a sustainable and consistent financial development strategy with clear awareness of accountable lending principles.

Prior to this loan, VPBank was able to secure a number of large syndicated loans from reputable lenders worldwide since 2020, totaling over a billion dollars. In particular, it mobilized a $500 million syndicated loan at the end of 2022 from five reputable financial institutions: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ANZ Bank, and Maybank Securities Pte. Ltd.