Preferential credit package for infrastructure and digital technology awaiting disbursement

Ready resources for preferential credit packages

Implementing the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister on building a long-term preferential credit package of about 500 trillion VND for businesses investing in infrastructure and digital technology , the State Bank quickly stepped in with a series of coordination moves.

Four meetings with commercial banks and relevant ministries and branches were held; two official dispatches were sent to 21 banks to register their participation in the program, and two official dispatches requesting the Ministries of Construction, Industry and Trade, and Science and Technology to provide a list of projects and capital needs until 2030 were issued.

Up to now, all 21 commercial banks have registered enough 500 trillion VND, readying the resources of the credit system for the program. Of which, four State-owned commercial banks play a core role, each registering 60 trillion VND; a group of 12 large private banks registered 20 trillion VND/bank; 5 smaller banks registered about 4 trillion VND each. This is an important basis for the program to be deployed on a system-wide scale as soon as the related conditions are completed.

*All 21 commercial banks have registered the full VND500 trillion for the program. Photo: Nguyen Ngoc.*

However, behind the urgent and methodical preparation, the disbursement progress of the credit package is facing the risk of slowing down because the project portfolio has not been fully and consistently provided.

According to the representative of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors (State Bank), the Ministry of Science and Technology has not yet provided a list of projects participating in the Program. Meanwhile, the list sent by some ministries is in a state of "both excess and shortage", not ensuring consistency and completeness for banks to be able to identify the correct borrowers.

It is worth noting that the credit capital needs of key projects in strategic infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, and digital technology have not been determined. This situation makes it difficult for banks to calculate the allocation of registered capital within the total scale of 500 trillion VND.

Representatives of participating banks all affirmed their willingness to accompany, but they need a clear, specific and unified list to conduct appraisal, ensure loans are given to the right address and avoid legal risks.

Ms. Phung Thi Binh, Deputy General Director of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), emphasized that the bank is completely ready to support businesses in terms of interest rates, but must be clear about responsibilities in lending so that banks can confidently implement it.

From an expert perspective, Dr. Le Duy Binh - Director of Economica Vietnam, analyzed that the slow completion of the portfolio is one of the bottlenecks that makes it difficult for the program to run on schedule. He explained that infrastructure investment is a long-term loan sector of at least 5-10 years, while banks mainly mobilize short-term capital; in addition, Vietnam's credit/GDP ratio at the end of 2024 has reached 134%, making the story of capital structure and system safety even more difficult to calculate.

In addition to traditional loans, Mr. Le Quang Vinh - General Director of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) proposed to consider the mechanism of capital contribution and benefit sharing for innovative projects, in order to increase efficiency and reduce medium and long-term credit pressure.

*Long Thanh airport project funded by Vietcombank. Photo: Thai Minh.*

Currently, banks, including Vietcombank, are still financing many national infrastructure projects such as the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen transmission line; Nhon Trach 3 and 4 power plants; Long Thanh airport... This shows that they have experience in appraising and financing infrastructure, but need a "standard portfolio framework" to be able to expand to new credit packages on a very large scale.

Need to remove early to avoid slow disbursement

At a recent program implementation meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh affirmed that the VND500 trillion credit program for infrastructure and digital technology investment loans is receiving much attention and direction from the Government, the Prime Minister as well as businesses investing in key infrastructure projects. Therefore, speeding up the program's implementation is extremely necessary to encourage businesses to invest, unlock resources, and contribute to promoting economic growth according to the set goals. However, to implement effectively, banks need to have a complete loan portfolio.

According to the Deputy Governor, for strategic infrastructure groups such as transportation and electricity, borrowers must be enterprises investing in key/important national projects provided by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. For the strategic technology sector, the project must be on the List of strategic technologies and national strategic technology products according to Decision 1131/QD-TTg dated June 12, 2025 and confirmed by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Canh asked commercial banks to give their opinions on new preferential interest rates, in which the minimum reduction will be 1.5%/year compared to the average medium and long-term interest rates of each bank, instead of 1% as before, to create better conditions for businesses.

At the same time, he assigned the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors to develop a document guiding the implementation of the Program and to seek opinions from relevant ministries and sectors; at the same time, he requested the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Science and Technology... to closely coordinate and soon complete the project list so that banks have a basis for disbursement.

Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh emphasized that the State Bank will continue to coordinate with ministries to ensure the program is implemented effectively, in accordance with the Government's direction.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/goi-tin-dung-uu-dai-cho-ha-tang-cong-nghe-so-cho-giai-ngan-431510.html