Nguoi Dong Hanh news website reports that US$40 million of the amount comes from IFC and the remaining US$70 million from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bangkok Bank and Maybank.

The loan is the first batch of a US$150 million financing package for ABBank, with the remaining US$40 million to be pledged by two other international donors this month. At least 30% of the package, or US$45 million, will be earmarked for woman-run SMEs with support from the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF).

WEOF is a global finance facility dedicated to woman-run SMEs and launched by IFC’s Banking on Women program and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. It has pledged around US$900 million for financial institutions in 15 countries so far to give women entrepreneurs easier access to credit.

With the new loan, ABBank plans to triple lending to SMEs and quadruple lending to woman-run SMEs in the next five years. Its total outstanding loans for SMEs are estimated at over US$1 billion in 2021.

The Nguoi Dong Hanh news report quoted an ABBank representative as saying that the loan would help the bank take the lead in the SME and woman-run SME lending segment and enable it to diversify long-term capital sources from international donors.

While SMEs account for 98% of the enterprises nationwide and 50% of the jobs, only 30% of SMEs have access to formal financial services.

Research by Goldman Sachs showed that meeting credit needs of woman-run enterprises in emerging markets will increase per capita income by 12% in 2030, said Charlotte Keenan from the 10,000 Women initiative.
According to Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the financing package will encourage banks to see woman-run SMEs as a business opportunity and other banks in Vietnam to expand lending to this segment.
IFC became a foreign investor of ABBank in 2013 with a 10% stake. This year IFC has offered a US$57 million convertible loan to VPBank and a credit package worth US$185 million to VIB.