Tran Thu
Anh told a seminar in HCMC on Wednesday that IFC, a private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group, would provide financial and technical support for the banks participating in the program in Vietnam.
As for financial assistance, IFC will offer seven-year loans with a grace period of two years for local banks to lend to individual and corporate customers wanting to buy and invest in energy-saving houses and buildings.
IFC can also set up a fund to share lending risks with local banks. The corporation will cover part of the debts for energy-saving projects that borrowers are unable to repay to the lenders if the banks and the corporation can agree on criteria for lending and risk evaluation.
Regarding technical assistant, IFC will assist local banks in working out loans for energy-efficiency projects as well as marketing plans and staff training. Anh said most Vietnamese banks have yet to lend to such projects.
In addition, IFC will build a bridge between local banks and green technology suppliers who have close relationships with investors and companies to help the banks find more customers. The corporation will also launch campaigns to raise public awareness of energy-efficiency projects.
Currently, IFC has a tool called EDGE to evaluate energy-efficiency projects and Vietnamese banks can use this tool to assess projects before deciding to lend them or not.
IFC expert Autif Sayyad said EDGE is free on www.ifc.org/EDGE but enterprises need to pay for the EDGE certificate issued by IFC.
Nam Long Investment Company is one of the first Vietnamese firms to get such a certificate next week as planned.
IFC has invested around US$2 billion in its sustainable energy program via banks. In Vietnam, the corporation together with Techcombank and VietinBank has lent to a number of energy-efficiency projects in the manufacturing sector.
Nguyen Cong Thinh of the Department of Technology-Science and Environment under the Ministry of Construction said Vietnam does not have detailed supporting policies for energy-saving structures and this is a major hurdle to investors.
Thinh added that there is no policy that encourages or forces investors to have their projects certified as energy-efficiency structures. Vietnam has not set up a fund to support and promote energy saving just as Thailand and other nations have done.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
