~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

French agency pledges $1.2 mln to reform ICB

The Agence Francaise de Developement (AFD), the French development agency, has pledged to provide a 1.3 euros ($1.22 million) technology support project for the State-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (ICB), one of the four largest banks in the country.

The project is aimed at reforming the ICB into a modern bank with healthy financial status and diversified services, thus improving its competitiveness. It will also enhance transparency. The money will fund technical assistance for local experts in foreign banking for one year. Short-term research projects on loan administration, training programs and the improvement of transparency and accountancy will also be carried out.

The State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, said that State-run banks are preparing for reform programs and the ICB is the first to conduct a restructuring plan with funds coming from foreign donors. ICB, with chartered capital of VND2,100 billion ($137.3 million), specializes in providing loans for industrial companies. In the first seven months of this year, it reported total mobilized capital of VND70.2 trillion ($4.58 billion) and total outstanding loans of VND68.14 trillion ($4.45 billion), up 18%. It has an overdue debt ratio of 2.9%.

The project was part of AFD's program for the banking industry, which includes some under assessment such as a credit line to the large State-run Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD), a credit line for the Mekong Housing Bank, the finance sector program II (co-financed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)), and loans provided by Proparco - the ADF's branch - to financial institutions. Since 1994, AFD has provided Vietnam with 328 million euros ($322.5 million) in 21 projects.

AFD Press Release, November 1st, 2002