On 1 December 2023, in the framework of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, under the witness of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant ministries and agencies, BIDV exchanged cooperation instruments with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on promoting green and sustainable financing.

BIDV and ADB exchange cooperation instruments on promoting green finance  

Following the successful long-standing cooperation between BIDV and ADB on promoting financial inclusion and digitizing business operations for SMEs and women-owned companies, the two banks have agreed to enhance the business collaboration by signing and exchanging a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation on promoting green finance at COP28.

Accordingly, the MOU between BIDV and ADB covers the launching of green finance cooperation initiatives, contributing to enabling Vietnam’s transition to a green economy. Key focus of the MOU is the consideration to offer a medium and long-term loan worth USD200 million to facilitate BIDV’s lending to SMEs, applying energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture models, sharing experiences and good practices on climate finance information disclosure. The MOU marks an important step forward in the partnership of the two banks in the journey to helping Vietnam realize its net-zero commitments by 2050.

BIDV and Standard Chartered Bank exchange the Sustainable Trade Finance Framework Agreement 

BIDV and Standard Chartered Bank exchanged the Sustainable Trade Finance Framework Agreement totaling up to USD100 million. With this commitment, Standard Chartered Bank will arrange financing for import transactions that meet the green criteria as stipulated in the Agreement, thereby enhancing access to green finance for BIDV’s corporate customers.

Given the important role in guiding Vietnam’s economic development of import-export activities – the spotlights in Vietnam’s economy, the Sustainable Trade Finance Framework Agreement between BIDV and Standard Bank Chartered will provide support to businesses with import-export activities that meet the green criteria, thereby contributing to accelerating Vietnam’s economy transition towards environmental protection and sustainable development.

The Vietnamese delegation led by the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh participated in the COP28

Towards the comprehensive strategy on sustainable development, BIDV has made important strides in green growth and sustainable finance. In particular, BIDV is the first domestic bank to issue the ‘Sustainable Loan Framework’ and ‘Green Bond Framework’ following international standards. The BIDV’s Green Bond Framework is highly rated by Moody’s with an SQS2 rating (very good). In October 2023, BIDV successfully issued green bonds worth VND2,500 billion (more than USD100 million) to finance projects with environmental protection focus. BIDV is also a pioneering bank to cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to promote green finance, sustainable development and response to climate change. As of 30 September 2023, BIDV had been a market leader in green finance with total green loan balance of USD2.98 billion to 1,528 customers.

The cooperation signing events between BIDV and the partners that took place on the sidelines of the world’s largest climate summit in the presence of the Vietnamese government leader reaffirmed BIDV’s strong commitment to sustainable development. This is also BIDV’s message to the domestic and international community about the bank’s priority in partnership to promote sustainable finance, accompany the Vietnamese government in realizing the net-zero and environmental protection commitments.