On 04/11/2011, in Hanoi, the Western South Management Unit, the Organizing Board of the Exhibition for 10-year construction and development of the Mekong River Delta coordinated with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in organizing the press conference to introduce the project content and call for funds for the above Exhibition. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, Head of the Western South Management Unit presided over the press conference.

The exhibition is aimed at affirming the achievements in 10 years of implementing the Resolution No. 21 by the Politburo for the Mekong River Delta and mobilizing social security programs for the region; organizing conferences and seminars to find out practical solutions, propose development regimes and policies of the Mekong River Delta. This event has great political, economic and socioeconomic significance in order to mobilize sustainable and fast development resources for the region and solve social security effectively, alleviate poverty for the local residents, especially ethnic minorities; boost investment promotion, trade promotion and tourist promotion activities, create favorable conditions for the organizations and enterprises to popularize trademark, introduce their potentials and capacity in the field of agriculture, trade, service, tourism and credit.

Over the past years, BIDV has always paid the highest attention to the socioeconomic development of the Mekong River Delta through the operation network of 50 operation points (including 15 branches, 35 operation centers), 136 ATMs and is one of the Financial institutions with the leading broad network in the region.

From 2000 up to now, BIDV has carried out many preferential programs and policies concerning capital, credit and interest rate, given priority to allocating long-term and medium-term capital to key economic sectors, invested in infrastructure, urban areas and provided high quality financial - banking services to the region. Operation scale and efficiency of BIDV in the region keeps being expanded in which the growth rate in the period from 2000 to now achieved high level compared with the regional and system average. In which: total assets increased by about 30%/year on average, mobilized capital increased by 25%, credit increased by 30%. In 10 months of 2011 only, credit debt of BIDV achieved 22 trillion VND. This is also the sector to which BIDV always pays special attention in terms of capital source. Every year, apart from the locally mobilized capital source, BIDV regularly allocates 7-8 trillion VND to the region to meet the lending demand.

With the capital supplied by BIDV every year of about 9% of the credit of the whole location, focusing on the following fields: procuring, processing, trading, exporting seafood and food, investing in infrastructure to develop agricultural and rural economy, it is possible to ensure efficient supply of great quantity to the socioeconomic development demand, contributing an important part to the economic structure shift of the whole region.

Every year, BIDV gives priority to allocating about 8 trillion VND (equivalent to 35% of total debt) of credit to the demand for investment in infrastructure development, construction and industrial production of the region. With this capital source, BIDV has met timely and effectively the capital demand for many key works, traffic, healthcare, educational, commercial and tourist infrastructure, typical Trung Luong - My Thuan - Can Tho highway, Rach Mieu bridge, Kien Luong thermal power project to contribute to completing infrastructure, promoting local socioeconomic development.

BIDV is always one of the best financial and banking service providers in the region with strength in providing domestic and international payment services, guarantee, commercial sponsoring, foreign currency business and insurance services for enterprises (especially exporters), products for individuals (savings, payment, domestic and foreign remittance, foreign currency payment, card, e-banking product via telephone and internet) or State budget collection, salary payment for various agencies in the locality.

Together with the contribution to the local socioeconomic development, BIDV has shown the responsibility of an enterprise for the community life through positive contribution to social security activities of the region such as financing for building charity houses, schools, supporting temporary bridge alleviation program, building rural traffic, supporting study encouragement fund, offering Tet gift to poor people, maintaining heroic Vietnamese mothers. From 2008 to 2010, BIDV paid attention to supporting the Mekong River Delta provinces 43,176 billion VND with target programs such as removing temporary houses, building schools, libraries, removing temporary bridges, supporting victim’s families, relieving dioxin pain. Specifically, BIDV financed the Western South provinces in building Hostel for Vocational schools for ethnic minorities in Tra Vinh province and completed basic construction, prepared for operation.

In reply to the call from the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam in implementing national target programs in the new period 2011-2013, BIDV provided more than 42 billion VND to the Mekong River Delta provinces to carry out social security with focus on the programs for supporting in building new Rural areas in terms of education, training, building solidarity houses, carrying out favor repayment policy in Bac Lieu, Ben Tre, Hau Giang, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang, Tay Ninh and Dong Thap provinces.

Through participating in the Organizing Board for the Exhibition of 10-year construction and development of Mekong River Delta this time as the Vice Head of the Organizing Board, apart from coordinating with the Organizing Board in preparing conditions for organizing the Exhibition to achieve practical efficiency, BIDV will actively contribute and mobilize its partners to participate in social security, contribute to promoting sustainable and fast socioeconomic development of Mekong River Delta.

For further information, please contact:

Branding and Public Relations Division,

Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam.

Tel: 04. 22205256; Fax: 04. 22225316