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News from the STEP project in Vietnam
The STEP project is launching two new loans to support small business and agriculture while facilitating access to financing for women.
The pilot on new products and services launched just two months ago saw the first disbursements of credit products by two funds (or People’s Credit Funds, PCF) in the south of the country: Phu Loc, province of Soc Trang, and Binh An in the province of Kien Giang.
As of December 31, 2018, 15 loans for small business and agriculture had been disbursed. These new products, which do not require physical collateral and are based on members’ cash flow analysis, help to increase access to credit for people with few assets, including women whose property is often registered in the name of their husband.
The project team also produced data sheets for the PCF with training material for five agricultural sectors: pig and beef, shrimps, rice and pepper. These fact sheets help to guide the work of loan officers in the evaluation of agricultural loan applications, including the analysis of the characteristics of the production system, the profitability of activities, market prices, and the use of products. Phytosanitary measures, and associated environmental risks and their prevention are also accessed.
After the very positive reception of the two PCFs and their members, a deployment of solutions is scheduled for other PCFs in northern, central and southern Vietnam.
(Photo: Ms. Chau My Hanh – Binh An village, Kien Giang province – who received a loan for maintaining the family’s pepper cultivation during the low-price period and her son)
#Devcanada | Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada | Embassy of Canada to Vietnam | Développement international Desjardins – DID