Nam A Bank hosted the international conference “Unlocking Global Green Financing to Drive Sustainable Development and Financial Inclusion in Vietnam” on September 5, in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the World Bank’s latest report released in February 2025, the global stock of sustainable bonds reached US$6.2 trillion by the end of 2024. This is not a passing trend, experts emphasized, but a structural shift reshaping the global economy.
Analysts warned that international investors now look beyond profits, demanding standardized carbon disclosures and transparent ESG reporting. For Vietnamese enterprises, failure to green their operations risks exclusion from global value chains.
Mr. Tran Khai Hoan, Member of the Board of Directors and Acting CEO of Nam A Bank, stressed that green and inclusive finance can expand access to capital for all economic sectors, particularly the private sector, while boosting competitiveness. Vietnam’s Net Zero commitment by 2050, combined with its push for financial inclusion and private-sector growth, presents both challenges and opportunities to attract global green capital.
Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Vietnam Banks’ Association, highlighted three critical barriers. First, to mobilize the massive capital required for Net Zero, Vietnam must adopt policies attractive enough to draw both domestic and foreign investment, particularly from private-sector players.
Second, Vietnam’s green finance market remains modest. Green credit has expanded rapidly to VND736 trillion in outstanding loans, accounting for 4.3 percent of total credit, but remains concentrated in clean energy and sustainable agriculture. Green bonds, though growing, are still limited: by April 2025, outstanding issuance reached just over VND30 trillion, around 2 percent of the corporate bond market. From 2021 to 2024, Vietnam issued only $1.16 billion in green bonds—far below the estimated $20 billion annual demand for green projects.
Third, Vietnam lacks a standardized green finance database, considered a “strategic asset” in the era of digital economies and green transitions. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung argued that Vietnam must urgently build standardized databases on green bonds, equities, and credit, supported by clear legal definitions and transparent criteria to facilitate capital mobilization, monitoring, and effective investment attraction.
At the global level, IFC representative Weichuan Xu estimated that Vietnam will require an additional $368 billion between 2022 and 2040—equivalent to 6.8 percent of GDP annually—to reach Net Zero by 2050. In the next decade alone, nearly $10 billion per year will be needed for energy demand and decarbonization. “It is clear that government funding alone is insufficient; the private sector must play a central role,” Mr. Weichuan Xu emphasized.
IFC HCMC: A green capital hub in the making
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan, a member of the advisory council for establishing the Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Center (IFC), underscored its pivotal role in mobilizing $20–30 billion annually in green capital for Vietnam.
Without such a center, banks must rely on costly trustee funds to secure financing for projects. With the IFC, global investment funds—particularly green finance funds—will have direct access to Vietnam’s pipeline of green projects, increasing transparency and investor confidence. Beyond acting as a hub, the IFC is expected to set green finance standards, develop markets for green bonds, carbon credits, and green loans, and promote transparent regulatory frameworks.
Banking sector as a pioneer
According to Mr. Tran Anh Quy, Deputy Director General of the State Bank of Vietnam’s Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, the banking sector has been a pioneer in greening finance. Since 2015, Directive No.03 has guided credit flows toward green industries, followed by strategies and roadmaps for green banking development through 2030 with a vision to 2045. Many commercial banks now publish sustainability reports and have successfully issued green bonds.
The State Bank of Vietnam is also coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on a flagship initiative: developing one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta. Already, seven to eight commercial banks have joined, disbursing over VND5 trillion. Enterprises and farming households can apply directly at participating banks.
