Bangladesh microfinance institutions pay official study visit to VBSP

(VBSP News) On 23rd March 2017, VBSP held a study visit program for the delegation of Bangladesh microfinance institutions  led by Mr. MOHAMMAD ABDUL AWAL – General Director of Credit and Development Forum.

 Meeting with VBSP side in VBSP’s Headquarters

Deputy CEO Nguyen Duc Hai, on behalf of VBSP Executive Committee, welcomed and worked with the Bangladesh microfinance delegation to pay a study visit to VBSP for getting more understanding on the Vietnam’s microfinance landscape and learn experience on success of VBSP’s development in terms of microfinance for the poor in rural areas.

During the meeting, the delegation is introduced by VBSP on the organizational structure and operation model of VBSP as well as successful stories of VBSP in delivering financial inclusion to the poor and other vulnerable persons in Vietnam.

VBSP has been operating in Vietnam from  March 11th, 2003. VBSP is now in the top microfinance bank in Vietnam, and also ranked in the list of top five microfinance institutions in the world in terms of total assets and customer base. To date, VBSP has 63 provincial branches, 629 district transaction offices, approximately 11,000 commune transaction outlets and 200,000 savings and credit groups across 63 cities/provinces of Vietnam. VBSP enables financial inclusion of the poor and other disadvantaged groups through grassroots networks, appropriate infrastructure, socialized procedures and skillful employees. VBSP’s vision is to become a leading retail and universal bank promote financial inclusion to the mass market, typically the last mile population.

Over 15 years of operation, VBSP has helped more than 28.8 million poor households, poor households and other disadvantaged groups access financial inclusion for business and production; helping over 4 million poor households overcome poverty threshold; attracting and creating new jobs for over 3.2 million workers, of which over 107 thousand employees to work overseas for a definite time; over 3.4 million disadvantaged students access loans to cover tuition fee; building 8.1 million clean water, sanitation facilities in rural areas, more than 7.5 thousand houses for poor households to avoid floods in central coast provinces, over 104,000 typhoon-proof houses for households in the flooded Mekong Delta, nearly 484,000 houses for poor households and homeless households across the country. To achieve the great success is the VBSP’s innovation in delivery channel, financial service and product diversification, savings mobilization at grassroot level…

VBSP has made diversification of financial service and credit products to respond with the demand of targeted clients. To date, VBSP has conducted around 22 credit programs  and other financial services (savings deposit, remittances, payments…) serving nearly 7 million household clients including poor households, near-poor households, households who have just lifted from poverty, ethnic minorities and students, entrepreneurs, small business, SMEs etc. Total loan porfolio of VBSP reaches VND 154,960 billion (nearly US$7 billion), responding with borrowing demand for production and business (farming, husbandry, fertilisers, seeds, etc.). Moreover, VBSP extended loans for investment in purchase of machine, equipment and facilities build and repair housing for improving productivity, incomes and creating jobs for employees.

VBSP is the only bank in Vietnam to reach the poor at rural, remote and mountainous areas through the innovative model of fixed-date transaction at commune/ward/town nationwide. It is one of the most effective and efficient delivery channels that help the last mile population in Vietnam access inclusive finance served by VBSP, mitigate travelling time and costs for borrowers. At communal transaction points, all inclusive finance programs including lists of active borrowers, outstanding loans, delinquency etc. are publicized to ensure transparent, public and adequate information at all level. On a fixed day of the month, the field staff of VBSP come to the commune to initiate direct transaction with borrowers in terms savings deposit, loan application and loan payment under witness of representatives from local mass organizations, heads of savings and credit Groups and relevant commune authorities.

Meeting with VBSP’s branch in Quang Ninh province

To get more understanding on VBSP’s operation models, VBSP organized a field trip for the Bangladesh delegation to visit Quang Ninh branch of VBSP in North Vietnam where they met and worked with branch officers, VBSP’s partner organizations and visited VBSP customer’s business and production models such as aquaculture in Ha Long Bay.

Interview with VBSP’s customers on sharing aqua-culture production model in Ha Long Bay

On behalf of the Bangladesh delegation, Mr. MOHAMMAD ABDUL AWAL – General Director of Forum on Credit and Development highly appreciated the VBSP’s contribution to poverty reduction and socio-economic growth in Vietnam. Two sides boosted further cooperation and exchange mutual experience in future.