The Global Climate Partnership Workshop 2024 brings opportunities in climate development financing

Participants will provide practical knowledge and learning about climate-development financing to improve the competencies of the Vietnam market.

Additionally, the workshop marks the first in-depth training course of the Green Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF) in Vietnam.

In the opening remarks, on behalf of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the SBV’s Ho Chi Minh City Branch said that the bank was actively promotinG green growth financing programmes.

“The SBV advocates programmes which aim to protect the environment, pursue a decarbonation pathway, and drive the green growth of the economy. In particular, it is encouraged that financial organisations should leverage green financing packages and deploy green supporting programmes (loans) towards sustainable development,” Lenh said.

He added that provisions and processes of green credits remain similar to current credit programs.

“The difference between them, if spotted, is the classification on investment types and project operation purposes,” Lenh said.

Trinh Thi Huong, deputy director of the Agency for Enterprise Development under Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) said that it was critical in creating a favourable regulatory environment, enabling participation of the private sector, and bridging project funding gaps for climate and sustainable development.

She said the GCPW 2024 was a meaningful and realistic activity that synergised resources and enhanced the local of sustainability.

“Besides being provided support from the state budget, the MPI actively fosters collaborations with other partners to deploy meaningful and impactful innovative campaigns towards sustainable or green business transitions to adapt to drastic climate change,” said Huong.

Bui Quang Duy, deputy global head of Climate Finance, Financial Institution Investment of responsAbility, said that responsAbility offered long-term funding solutions, enterprise competencies development programmes, and green growth strategies consulting packages.

“Vietnam is ranked in the top two of our investment markets ranking list, and this workshop is a part of the Enterprise Competencies Development Program of the Global Climate Partnership Fund. Therefore, responsAbility looks forward to collaborating with agencies and companies in the upcoming months that create a complete green ecosystem for the Vietnam market,” said Duy.

Participants discussed the domestic investment environment of climate finance, climate investment stakeholders, and experiences of deploying projects in Vietnam.

On May 14, the workshop continued to provide practical cases of energy infrastructure projects, solar energy projects in commercial and industrial segments through legal, financial, investment, technical, and socioeconomic perspectives. This content was conveyed by experts coming from Vilaf, FinerGreen, Afry, and responsAbility.

A practical training course will also be held, embedding a site visit in Dalat in the last three days, with around 30 middle-managers from different enterprises who participated in the whole three-day programme, including Viet A Bank, Nam A Bank, Viet Capital Bank, Eximbank, EVN Finance, and the Vietnam Private Sector Office.

Through this initiative, participants will study key cases, and have in-depth discussions on deployment plans of climate finance strategic pillars in Vietnam.

The GCPF was established in 2009 by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, KfW, and IFC as a public-private partnership.

The GCPF has addressed the lack of adequate financing for low-carbon projects in emerging economies. The fund focuses on financing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for small and medium-sized enterprises and private households, mainly through direct cooperation with local financial institutions.

responsAbility - a Swiss-based pioneer and global leader in impact investing, recently received Green Climate Fund accreditation.

Panel discussion at the workshop