On July 7th 2018 in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in collaboration with Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA) and the German Development Cooperation (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ) co-organized the Conference on "Green banking toward sustainability". This Conference is an activity within the framework of Vietnam-Germany cooperation under the Macroeconomic Reform/Green Growth Programme implemented by GIZ in Vietnam under the authorization of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Ent¬wicklung - BMZ) of Germany.
Attending the Conference were SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh along with representatives from the SBV’s functional departments. The Conference was also attended by VNBA Secretary General Nguyen Toan Thang; Dr. Michael Krakowski – Director of the Macroeconomic Reform/Green Growth Programme cum Coordinator of the Sustainable Economic Development Cluster of GIZ Vietnam; Ms. Yuki Yasui - Deputy Director, UNEP Finance Initiative; and other experts from WWF Singapore, YES Bank (India), the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam, as well as representatives of the member organizations of VNBA.
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh delivers the opening speech
In his opening speech, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh mentioned that the Prime Minister had signed Decision No.1393/QD-TTg dated September 25th 2012 approving the Green Growth Strategy and Decision No.403/QD-TTg approving the National Action Plan on Green Growth between 2014 - 2020, which assigns the SBV to take lead in the institutional improvement and capacity building in the banking and finance activities of commercial banks for green growth.
The SBV Deputy Governor underscored the decisive role of the banking sector in the economic transformation toward the model of sustainable development, green growth and low-carbon through the mobilization and regulation of the necessary capital sources for sustainable development as well as the strict implementation of the principles of environmental and social risk management in investment activities and credit extension.
According to the Deputy Governor, the SBV has developed a series of policies and action plans to encourage banks to gradually move towards pursuing the goals of supporting sustainable development and green growth. This has been concretized by the SBV Governor through Directive No.03 dated March 24th, 2015 on the promotion of green credit growth, managing environmental and social risks in credit activities; and Decision No.1552 approving the Banking Sector’s Green Action Programme to implement the green growth strategy of the Government.
The functional departments of the SBV have developed the Green Banking Strategy, the green project portfolio, the environmental and social risk management manual, and a green credit reporting guide for commercial banks in Vietnam. "The Conference will mark a milestone for Vietnam's banking system in the pursuit of green banking and sustainable banking. This will contribute to the successful implementation of the National Strategy on Green Economy in Adaptation to Climate Change and Sustainable Development of Vietnam”, said the Deputy Governor.
VNBA Secretary General Nguyen Toan Thang speaks at the Conference
Providing further information on commercial banking activities within the Green Banking Strategy towards sustainable development, VNBA Secretary General Nguyen Toan Thang stated that in order to realize the green growth, besides the state budget and the foreign investment sources, it is necessary to have the participation of the commercial banks to meet the working capital demands of the enterprises in the economy.
From the state management side, the SBV has taken the first steps in developing a policy for implementing the Green Banking Strategy. The SBV has cooperated with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop a set of guidelines for the environmental and social risk management for CIs and foreign bank branches. The Governor of the SBV also issued Directive No.03 (March 2015), which directs the promotion of green credit growth and the management of environmental and social risks in credit extension activities.
Dr. Michael Krakowski shares international experience at the Conference
From the perspective of Director of the Macroeconomic Reform/Green Growth Programme cum Coordinator of the Sustainable Economic Development Cluster of GIZ Vietnam, Dr. Michael Krakowski shared that over the past 3 years, with the support of the GIZ’s Macroeconomic Reform Programme and other international organizations, as well as the close and effective cooperation from the relevant ministries and agencies, along with the SBV's efforts, significant progresses have been made in shaping the policy framework, as well as the green finance and green banking products. Mr. Krakowski expressed the GIX’s commitment in continuing to partner with the SBV to contribute to the successful realization of the national strategies on green economy, climate change response and sustainable development.
VA