Nearly VND 780,000 billion in green credit poured into the economy

At the Forum “Vietnamese Enterprises on the global economic map: Innovation for breakthrough” on the afternoon of March 24, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank Branch Region 2, said that last year green credit accounted for nearly 4.2% of the total outstanding debt of the economy. This includes loans in the fields of renewable energy, agriculture, transportation, waste treatment…

“The proportion is not high, but green credit maintains the trend and has a good increase,” Mr. Lenh commented. In 2024 and 2025, the scale of green credit will grow by 9.5% and 14.6%, respectively.

According to him, green credit is accelerating thanks to new policies such as classifying green categories, helping credit institutions have a legal basis to identify projects that can be disbursed. At the same time, new regulations also help green production businesses access transparent and quick capital sources, such as a credit package serving 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice.

“The mechanism allows businesses to borrow up to 70% of the total project investment without the need for collateral. This is considered the most practical support for businesses and agricultural cooperatives,” Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh stated.

From a business perspective, Mr. Dinh Hong Ky, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Green Business Association (HGBA), said that in the past, a business’s advantage was often measured by price, delivery time, output or processing scale, but now the game has changed.

“Global supply chains are being renewed based on climate change goals and the roadmap to net zero emissions by 2050,” he said. The green barrier system is also clearly taking shape, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of the European Union or the green standards about to be applied by the US and Japan in the period of 2026-2027.

Mr. Pham Van Viet, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Embroidery and Knitting Association (AGTEK), said the industry is under pressure to “go green in the middle of the storm” when the EU does not delay the deadline for applying sustainable standards (EPR, CBAM, DPP product passport…). “We not only have to pay high transportation costs due to the Middle East conflict, but also have to invest money in green transformation,” he said.

However, currently up to 90% of Vietnamese businesses in general have not built a clear green transformation strategy, according to HGBA. “Small and medium-sized enterprises are facing difficulties due to lack of capital, data on carbon emissions and human resources with expertise in ESG,” Mr. Dinh Hong Ky commented.

To open more opportunities to access green capital, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lenh said that the State Bank is developing a project to support interest rates at about 2% for small and medium-sized enterprises and individual business households in the field of green economy.