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SBV Governor meets with Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam
Governor Nguyen Van Giau of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Vietnam, Mr. Mitsuo Sakaba, in Hanoi on February 24.
Governor Nguyen Van Giau spoke highly of Japan’s decision to resume its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Vietnam and affirmed that the Vietnamese Government would work closely with the Japanese counterpart to effectively implement the ODA-funded projects.
In regard to the Japan-funded Small and Medium Enterprise Financial Program (SMEFP), the two sides highly appreciated the effectiveness of the first and second phases of the Program in terms of meeting the financial demand of Vietnamese SMEs in a timely manner and the considerable enhancement of commercial banks’ management of loans to SMEs.
Reportedly, up to December 31, 2008, 736 Vietnamese SMEs had benefited from SMEFP I with the total value of JPY 4 billion and SMEFP II with the amount of over JPY 6.1 billion.
For his part, the Japanese Ambassador asserted that his country would further expand cooperation with Vietnam, especially in providing financial support to help Vietnam overcome the impact of the current international economic crisis and promote economic growth. Additionally, Mr. Mitsuo Sakaba said that the Japanese Government will continue to finance SMEFP III with special attention to assisting Vietnam’s supporting industries.
Japan is an important partner of Vietnam in the banking industry. Over the past years, cooperation between the State Bank of Vietnam and the Bank of Japan has increasingly strengthened and consolidated. The SBV and the BoJ have regularly exchanged information and experiences within the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meetings.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) have provided valuable support to Vietnam through technical assistance and training projects. In the framework of bilateral cooperation in the period of 2006-2008, JICA sent a number of BoJ experts to help the SBV in improving the payment system, banknote issuing and vaulting, monetary market development and legal system reform. The projects provided by JICA to SBV so far include SMEPFs I and II, the JICA Technical Assistance Project for SBV in 2007, and the Capacity Building Project for SBV during 2008-2010.
My Huong
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