To enhance access to finance and restore business operations for women-owned enterprises (SMEs) affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Saigon – Hanoi Bank (SHB) recently launched a preferential financing program for women-owned SMEs, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Accordingly, SHB and ADB have designed a program to support women-owned businesses, aiming to assist these businesses in recovering and stabilizing production and business operations before the Covid-19 pandemic, helping them maximize their potential in contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. The project is expected to be implemented from now until the end of 2022.
Under this program, SHB supports the restructuring of debt repayment terms for female-owned businesses facing difficulties due to the pandemic. If debt restructuring occurs from January 7, 2021, they will receive support for 6 months of interest payments and be exempt from all fees related to debt restructuring. The value of this support amounts to VND 230 million (equivalent to USD 10,000).
Furthermore, to provide business leverage for new female-owned businesses, ADB pays commitment fees of up to 8% of the loan value on behalf of its clients, while SHB also offers preferential short-term interest rates starting from only 3.85% to facilitate access to low-cost credit for its customers.
In addition, SHB offers many preferential account services for female-owned businesses, such as giving away attractive account numbers to businesses and leaders, 100% free payroll disbursement services, free internet banking packages, and free domestic money transfers.
In addition to providing financial support, SHB will cooperate with ADB to organize training courses and consulting programs with the participation of leading experts to improve management skills for businesses, thereby enhancing competitiveness and sustainable development.
Ms. Ngo Thu Ha, Deputy General Director of SHB, stated: “ Women-owned businesses are increasingly making positive contributions to economic development. We believe that with supportive policies and solutions, especially during the Covid-19 period, this group of businesses will be able to further develop their capabilities and strengths. Demonstrating its role as a top commercial bank, SHB always accompanies and supports its customers and businesses, providing optimal financial solutions.”
Women-owned businesses are defined as businesses where women own at least 51% of the shares or simultaneously meet the following criteria: women own at least 21%, hold the highest or second-highest executive position, and at least 30% of the board members are women (if the business has a board of directors).
According to the recently published Mastercard Women Entrepreneurs Index 2020, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owned by women in Vietnam is 26.5%, ranking 9th out of 58 economies studied in terms of the number of women in leadership roles. However, it ranks 44th in the index assessing the conditions for supporting businesses, indicating that much more work is needed to support women entrepreneurs. One of the biggest difficulties for women-owned businesses is limited access to financial capital, receiving only 5% of the total loans available to businesses. Therefore, access to capital is the most urgent need for women-owned businesses.
Understanding this, through its preferential financing program for women-owned businesses, SHB aims to help businesses minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, contribute to improving financial capacity, stabilizing and developing business operations, thereby creating a foundation and momentum for achieving sustainable success in the future.