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20% Vietnamese adults accessible to financial services

The Hanoitimes – One in five Vietnamese adults is accessible to official financial service, said in International Financial Company (IFC)’s recent report.
Similarly, merely 8% Vietnamese aldults own savings at financial institutions, the report found. 
Researching shows that microfinance lenders play key roles in supplying service for low-income population of about 10 million people, among those women and the poor take majority.  Hence, it’s necessary to support microfinancial organizations to enhance business governance, which facilitating their ability to offer better financial services and broaden their hands in lending.
Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Director in Vietnam, Lao and Cambodia believe this enhancing would ensure the sustainable growth of those financial institution and benefit their clients, including millions of women and low-income households. “The move would contribute actively to the poverty fighting”, Kyle Kelhofer was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, Managing Director of the Vietnam Microfinance Working Group, said that the sector is thriving with small and non-profit operators who aims to transit into bigger enterprises. “One of the most deciding factors to this transition is how the enterprises upgrade their business governance to reinforce effectiveness, transparency and risk management”, Mai noted.
Not only in Vietnam but also other countries all over the world, regulators as well as investors are supporting their enterprises in heading to a better governance, a strong management board, responsible senior management and inferior audit, effective risk management, IFC’s report found.
Vietnam has seen a low financial inclusion rate with about half of the population not having a bank account, especially in far-flung and difficult-to-reach areas, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The government has put much effort to adjust the policies as well as legal framework to handle the challenges. Accordingly, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said the SBV is formulating a national financial inclusion strategies (NFIS), which would facilitate providing people and businesses with access and usage of a diverse set of basic financial services, including credit, payment, money transfer, savings, lending and insurance that are convenient and affordable.
Source: http://www.hanoitimes.vn/economy/banking-and-finance/2018/02/81E0C174/20-vietnamese-adults-accessible-to-financial-services/