A seminar on Vietnam ’s micro finance institutions held in Hanoi onMay 16 focused on sustainable interest rates and risk management.
The event was organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC)in collaboration with Switzerland ’s Ministry of the Economy, Tinhthuong One member Liability Limited Micro-finance Institution (TYM) andthe Vietnam Micro finance Working Group (MFWG).
It offered an insight into the issues surrounding the application of interest rates in micro-finance institutions.
Through practice and experience, the IFC’s working group concludedthat the interest rates of micro-finance institutions were not reallyhigher than other credit institutions and did not adversely affect theircustomers.
Risk management procedures were also discussed bythe experts. Andrew Pospielovsky, an IFC’s consultant, said thatmanaging risks to any financial institution required riskidentification, assessment, measurement, reduction, monitoring andevaluation.
Andrew Pospielovsky said the building of riskmanagement culture was something micro-finance institutions had beenurgently doing, particularly in the period of transition and growth.
The seminar reflected that micro-finance has been officiallyrecognised in Vietnam and is now part of the national financialsystem and has contributed towards the country’s economic development.-VNA
