ADB cooperates with SHB to organize Gender Awareness Training Program

In order to provide a comprehensive picture of the female customer segment in business operations and product and service development to meet gender equality goals, SHB has coordinated with ADB (Asian Development Bank) to organize a Gender Awareness Training Program for 2 days on June 16-17, 2025. The program was attended by SHB General Director Ngo Thu Ha, managers of SHB Divisions/Departments/Centers and Senior Leaders, ADB experts.

Under the project “Advancing Gender Equality Reform Agenda in Asia and the Pacific ”, ADB, together with Mekong Economics and Palladium, organized gender awareness training sessions for SHB’s management and lecturers. The program will provide insights through global market surveys, especially in the banking sector, in-depth training models and encourage creativity and experimentation in practice.

Mr. Reuben Jessop, senior expert of ADB shared: “SHB may be the first bank in Vietnam to have a Gender Strategy, pioneering actions for gender equality and providing maximum support for SMEs owned by women. Integrating this strategy proves that we have changed and adjusted to do new and more progressive things. With a gender-smart strategy, we will provide different solutions, products and services, suitable for each gender to achieve the highest performance”.

SHB’s implementation of a gender awareness training program has further emphasized its action strategy within the ESG practice framework, demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainable development and social responsibility. The program not only contributes to promoting gender equality but also focuses on supporting female customers – especially small and medium-sized enterprises owned by women – to enhance their capacity, expand access to finance and promote the role of women in the economy .

Speaking at the event, SHB General Director Ngo Thu Ha highly appreciated the ideas shared by the experts and the implementation team. According to SHB General Director, this is a useful, practical and suitable source of information for SHB to refer to, research, and gradually apply to the bank's practical operations.

General Director Ngo Thu Ha also affirmed SHB's strong commitment to promoting gender equality strategy, both internally and with customers. "Statistics show that SHB has a large number of female staff. Especially at SHB, we pay great attention to developing female staff. The proportion of women holding management and leadership roles is very high," said SHB General Director.

From a customer perspective, General Director Ngo Thu Ha shared the same view with experts on the positive role of women in running businesses, especially small and medium enterprises. “Women have an advantage in business leadership. When they develop their businesses, they often aim for sustainable development. I am also a woman, so I understand more that we do not need to be too fast, but need to understand the market, understand the risks, to develop steadily,” SHB CEO shared.

General Director Ngo Thu Ha emphasized SHB's development philosophy as "strong, sustainable, safe" and committed to always accompanying customers - especially women-owned businesses - through specific support mechanisms and policies.

SHB is known as a pioneer bank that always accompanies, stands side by side, and supports SMEs, especially female-owned enterprises (WSMEs). In order to support WSMEs to recover and stabilize production and business due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, since the end of 2021, SHB has cooperated with ADB to implement the program "Support to minimize the impact of Covid-19 for WSMEs". SHB is the leading bank among the 5 banks participating in the project with a total amount of non-refundable aid to customers of up to 1.7 million USD.

In 2023, SHB signed a credit cooperation contract with IFC worth USD 120 million to develop an SME lending portfolio, prioritizing women-owned businesses and businesses participating in the supply chain. SHB committed to reserving at least 37.5% of the loan value for lending to women-owned businesses, and the bank will receive USD 226,000 in funding from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Fund (WEOF) - global funding initiatives with the goal of expanding access to capital for women entrepreneurs. This is an important additional resource for SHB to continue developing specific policies and programs to accompany and support SMEs in general and WSMEs in particular.

Over the years, the bank has always accompanied female entrepreneurs, supporting women on the path to entrepreneurship. In 2023, SHB will also join the Women's Entrepreneurship Competition organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union with the theme "Women's Entrepreneurship, Promoting Local Resources". This is one of the key activities under the Project "Supporting Women's Entrepreneurship for the 2017-2025 Period" approved by the Prime Minister and implemented since 2018.

With a strategic vision and persistent companionship with women, especially female entrepreneurs, SHB is committed to continuing to expand initiatives and specific action programs to spread values, motivate and empower women on the journey to affirm their role in the modern economy.

Firmly holding the position of a leading bank, SHB always accompanies in creating and spreading good values, promoting the entrepreneurial spirit, nurturing talented entrepreneurs, and contributing to the development of the country.

Source: https://www.shb.com.vn/adb-phoi-hop-cung-shb-to-chuc-chuong-trinh-dao-tao-nang-cao-nhan-thuc-ve-gioi/