Asian Development Bank Publications Unit External Relatio

Published purpose

This project aims to increase access to finance for women-owned and -led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. It seeks to establish a finance facility under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide grants and technical assistance to financial institutions, alongside commercial loans from the ADB and other lenders. These grants and technical assistance aim to incentivize financial institutions to increase their presence among these SMEs. The project also seeks to facilitate greater awareness and capacity of financial institutions to identify and support underserved women entrepreneurs in Vietnam in the long-term. Project activities include: (1) providing performance-based lending or outcome-based lending to incentivize financial institutions to increase their outreach to SMEs; and (2) providing technical assistance grants to build the capacity of financial institutions partners. The project aims to reach up to 2,200 new borrowers of these SMEs through ADB’s private sector financial partners. It also directly benefits women entrepreneurs seeking finance in areas serviced by targeted financial institutions.