AIIB is a multilateral development bank with a mission to finance the Infrastructure for Tomorrow. Beginning operations with 57 founding Members, now AIIB has 109 Members from six continents. AIIB focuses on key investment areas such as energy, transportation and clean water. As one of the founding members of AIIB, and as a country having a long coastline with great potential for developing a blue economy, Vietnam becomes a promising target regarding the investment goals of the organization.

AIIB’s US$75 million investment in SeABank’s green and blue bond project is expected to further strengthen the Bank’s strong capital base to expand financing for sustainable economic activities linked to the sea and water, and grow green assets such as green buildings, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

“Viet Nam’s Nationally Determined Contribution lays emphasis on the importance of resource mobilization from financial and international credit institutions to support climate mitigation and adaptation ambitions. AIIB is very pleased to work together with SeABank and IFC in this innovative transaction, which will supplement the on-going measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the thematic capital market development,” said Gregory Liu, AIIB Director General of Financial Institutions and Funds, Global. “We look forward to seeing more issuances from other Vietnamese financial institutions in future.”

Following SeABank’s sustainable commitment, one of our priorities in the current period is to issue the first blue bond in Vietnam and to issue the first green bond by a private commercial bank in the country. We hope the partnerships with financial institutions such as AIIB and IFC could supplement SeABank with capital sources to foster green credit and sustainable strategies associated with green and blue economy” – said Le Thu Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of the BOD, SeABank.

The investment was mobilized by the co-investor introduction of IFC - a strategic partner which has been supporting SeABank to implement sustainable projects associated with sustainable finance and financial inclusion, in partnership with the Australian government. Previously at the end of June, IFC provided a financing package of US$150 million which includes investments in SeABank’s blue and green bonds. Sharing the same goal of promoting Vietnam’s sustainable economy, together AIIB and IFC are investing US$150 million in SeABank’s blue and green bonds. Further, IFC will advise SeABank on the issuance of green and blue bonds, application of related frameworks, and pipeline development.

Consistent with its sustainable development goal, in recent years, SeABank has continuously prioritized the application of international best practices in environmental and social (E&S) risk management, while effectively implementing financial inclusion projects for small and medium-sized enterprises and women-owned enterprises, implementing green finance projects and climate change mitigation. As a result, the Bank has been entrusted with and has received continuous investments from various international financial institutions such as DFC, IFC and ADB with a total capital of approximately US$850 million.

SeABank's efforts to expand partnerships and implement sustainable projects act as a promise to create positive socio-economic and environmental impacts, thereby contributing to the national goal of green transition and commitment towards net zero.