BIDV and Hanoi Information Technology and Communication Transaction Centre (HITTC) - a unit under Hanoi Department of Information and Communications- signed an MOU on comprehensive cooperation on 25 December.

The signing ceremony took place at the launching of Hanoi business information portal in Hanoi and was witnessed by leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Hanoi authority, Hanoi Department of Information and Communications and Mr. Le Ngoc Lam, BIDV’s senior executive vice president.

By entering into the MOU, BIDV and HITTC have committed to being strategic partners, ensuring a long-term and sustainable relationship on the basis of promoting the strengths of each party.

Under the MOU, the two parties will cooperate to build and develop the business information portal through posting lists and basic content of products and services as well as policies of BIDV for small and medium enterprises in Hanoi, while establishing a team of consultants with knowledge of banking operations to provide consultancy to businesses in accessing BIDV’s products and services.

The two sides have also agreed to cooperate in assisting start-ups in Hanoi through developing credit programmes dedicated for start-ups in addition to organising conferences, seminars and investment promotion.

On the same day, BIDV officially launched a VND2 trillion credit programme named “Hanoi future business incubators” with flexible lending rates and loan term up to seven years as well as other preferential offers. As one of the leading commercial banks in Vietnam, BIDV hopes that the credit programme will positively support starting SMEs in accessing preferential loans, thereby facilitating business development in Hanoi.

As of July 2017, BIDV accounted for the largest market share of SMEs in Vietnam with over 200,000 customers, with outstanding loans for SMEs accounting for 16 percent of total loans provided for SMEs in the economy.