Princess Maxima of the Netherlands has affirmed an offer of technical support for Vietnam ’s development of a sustainable financial system and to assist the latter to survey and gain experience in the field.

Princess Maxima, who is also the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, made this statement to permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung in Hanoi on March 28.

The visiting Crown Prince Willem-Alexander’s wife expressed her good impression of Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and achievements in hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

She emphasised the importance of financial products such as savings and insurance which, she said, help poor people access sources of credit.

Apart from loans, savings is also a useful financial product for poor people, said the princess, suggesting that credit organisations can unite with other organisations to provide sustainable financial products to businesses and people, particularly those in rural areas.

Vietnam can take a short cut by using a number of credit organisation models, like mobile and assigned banks and combining credit organisations and post systems and shops to create the most favourable conditions for people to access loans, insurance and savings, she said.

Deputy PM Hung said he was happy at the fine development of the recent friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the Netherlands , especially in economics, trade and investment.

He thanked the Dutch Government and people for giving prioritises in development aid to Vietnam for environmental protection, coping with climate change, water resource management and improvement of medical and educational conditions.

The Vietnamese Government exerts its best to facilitate people’s access to credits sources, Hung said.

However, he said, Vietnam remained a poor country and had a huge demand for capital, while Vietnam ’s financial market remains low.

Vietnam wants to learn from the experiences of the Netherlands , to research and apply credit models which match with Vietnam ’s needs, said the Deputy PM.

He said he hoped Princess Maxima will continue to assist Vietnam in building and developing a sustainable and effective financial system.

The same day, a seminar on business opportunities in Vietnam was held in Hanoi with the participation of almost 90 Dutch business people accompanying Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima during their current visit to Vietnam .

The Netherlands is Europe’s biggest investor in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 5.38 billion USD and Vietnam ’s fourth largest importer in Europe. /.