General Secretary To Lam Commends VBSP for Collateral-Free Lending: Farmers Keep Their Word

On the afternoon of October 14, 2025, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam held a cordial meeting with 95 Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers and Agricultural Scientists on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (October 14, 1930 – October 14, 2025). At the meeting, the General Secretary praised the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) for providing loans to poor households and policy beneficiaries without requiring collateral, relying only on trust-based lending.

General Secretary To Lam commended the pioneering role of Vietnamese farmers and the companionship of VBSP in enabling farmers to access credit for production development

General Secretary To Lam praised VBSP

During the meeting, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the noble character of Vietnamese farmers in effectively using preferential credit: “Our farmers have used VBSP’s preferential capital efficiently. No one has broken their promises or misused the bank’s funds”.

The General Secretary highly appreciated the contributions of Vietnam’s farming class, affirming that farmers have created miracles during the renewal period, helping transform the nation’s destiny - from prolonged poverty to becoming one of the world’s leading agricultural exporters in many key products.

According to the General Secretary, Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas defines: “Agriculture is a national advantage and the backbone of the economy”.

Despite numerous challenges in recent years, agriculture has continuously achieved positive results, serving as a solid foundation for the country’s breakthrough development.

General Secretary To Lam had a cordial meeting with 95 Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers and Agricultural Scientists on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union

The General Secretary expressed his joy and emotion upon listening to the reports and heartfelt ideas shared by the outstanding farmers and agricultural scientists in 2025.

He stated that the Politburo is directing a review of Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW to develop new policy directions for further promoting agriculture, farmers, and rural areas in the coming time.

To achieve the goals of innovative agriculture, prosperous rural areas, and happy farmers, General Secretary To Lam emphasized five key tasks, in which science and technology must become the “core” of production.

He called on scientists to go to the fields, farms, and processing factories, and urged enterprises and cooperatives to accompany farmers to standardize processes, ensure product quality, enhance traceability and food safety, and meet the requirements of demanding export markets.

Speaking further about innovative credit models, the General Secretary once again praised VBSP’s collateral-free lending model, affirming that it is a trust-based and humane approach that aligns with the Party and Government’s inclusive financial policies.

VBSP: A Journey of “Understanding the People’s Hearts,” Empowering Nearly 48 Million Poor Households

Over the past 23 years of operation (October 4, 2002 - October 4, 2025), with the motto “Understanding the people’s hearts and serving with dedication,” VBSP has affirmed its role as the extended arm of the Government, bringing essential preferential credit to millions of poor and policy households, helping them rise out of poverty, stabilize their lives, and achieve sustainable development.

Beneficiaries receiving VBSP preferential loans directly at commune transaction points

In early 2002, the national poverty rate was nearly 30% of all households - this was the target group of VBSP. Most of VBSP clients lived in remote and disadvantaged areas, where infrastructure was underdeveloped, and the 54 ethnic groups had diverse cultures and traditional farming practices that were still fragmented and outdated. This made the mission of “bringing Government funding to every village” extremely challenging.

To overcome these difficulties, VBSP has closely cooperated with four mass organizations, including the Vietnam Women’s Union, Farmers’ Union, Veterans’ Association, and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to implement a unique trust-based lending management mechanism.

VBSP and its entrusted partners have continuously improved the quality of Savings and Credit Groups, strengthened communication, encouraged people to borrow capital confidently, change their mindset toward economic development, and integrate policy credit with local socio-economic programs. More importantly, they have monitored the use of funds to ensure effective and proper use, recover loans on time, and circulate capital sustainably to other eligible beneficiaries.

As of September 30, 2025, the total capital of VBSP reached approximately VND 422.7 trillion (around USD 16.9 billion), an increase of VND 419 trillion (around USD 16.8 billion) compared to 2002. Total outstanding loans under preferential credit programs reached VND 398.1 trillion (around USD 15.9 billion). Currently, there are nearly 6.73 million poor households and policy beneficiaries with outstanding loans at VBSP.

The Bank’s debt management remains effective, with total overdue and frozen debt at VND 2.17 trillion (around USD 87 million), accounting for only 0.55% of total outstanding loans, reflecting the safe, efficient, and sustainable quality of VBSP’s social credit portfolio.

Over 23 years, VBSP has provided nearly 47.9 million preferential loans to poor and policy households, helping: Over 7 million households overcome poverty; more than 7.6 million workers created jobs; over 4 million disadvantaged students continue their education; nearly 20.4 million works of rural safe water and sanitation built; around 784,000 houses built for the poor, low-income, and policy households.

Viet Hai – Thu Ha