The Swiss government-funded Green Credit Trust Fund (GCTF) will guarantee small and medium enterprises in Vietnam up to 50 percent of the loans needed to implement environment-friendly production techniques.

Additionally, the fund would reimburse the firms up to 25 percent of their “green investment” costs if such projects are successful.

Three local banks – the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Techcombank) and

Vietnam International Bank (VIB) – will distribute the credits and reimbursement.

The Vietnam Cleaner Production Center (VNCPC) will evaluate the projects’ environmental situation before and after implementation.

Tran Van Nhan, general director of the VNCPC, said local enterprises seeking “green credits” would have to submit their business plan to the agency.

If their plans pass an initial VNCPC feasibility evaluation, applicants would be able apply for the credit at the partner banks. If the bank approved the credit, the GCTF would guarantee half of the loan.

A re-evaluation would be conducted six months after the project’s implementation.

GCTF would then reimburse up to 25 percent of the businesses’ investment costs if the projects were re-evaluated as environmentally sound and successful.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the program held in Hanoi yesterday, deputy head of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs Daniel Lenggenhager said the program aimed to boost green production in Vietnam in the wake of its burgeoning economic growth that is damaging the country’s natural environment.

Source: Thanh nien News