Commercial credit to rural areas

cattle farming — The Da Nang City Farmers' Association cooperates with credit institutions to inject capital into the rural economy to help people produce and do business effectively. Photo: QUANG VIET

Investment efficiency

To create conditions for farmer members to access preferential loans for investment in production and business, the City Farmers' Association coordinated with two commercial banks: Vietnam Agriculture and Rural Development ( Agribank ) and Loc Phat Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPBank) to provide credit to farmer members with loans of up to 100 million VND through lending groups. From this loan source, many farmer households have invested in production and business effectively.

In early 2024, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vu borrowed 50 million VND from LPBank Quang Nam branch with an interest rate of 7%/year to cooperate with farmers to invest in the production and business of lingzhi and green lim mushrooms in Thanh Long village (Nui Thanh commune).

To increase the value of the goods, Mr. Vu deeply processes them into many products such as lingzhi mushroom tea bags, whole lingzhi mushrooms, vacuum-packed sliced green lim mushrooms, lingzhi mushroom wine, green lim mushroom powder, etc. The products are popular in the market, bringing in a large source of income for Mr. Vu, ensuring income for the farmers who cooperate.

“Rural areas have a lot of potential for economic development, so I boldly borrowed capital to produce, do business, and create jobs for farmers. Mushroom products are highly competitive in the market, so I accumulated more capital to invest in new technology to improve productivity and improve product quality,” said Mr. Vu.

In October 2024, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vu borrowed an additional 100 million VND from LPBank Quang Nam branch along with other capital sources to invest in Tam Phuc Traditional Medicine Clinic (Nam Son village, Nui Thanh commune) to carry out activities of examination, pulse diagnosis, prescription, acupuncture, cupping, injection, musculoskeletal and joint rehabilitation, physical therapy...

Mr. Vu said that the clinic was opened to provide oriental medicine services to people in the communes of Nui Thanh, Tam Anh, Tam Xuan, Tam My, Tam Hai, Duc Phu; for patients in difficult circumstances, he provided free treatment.

“Tam Phuc Traditional Medicine Clinic has been operating for over a year and is a destination for patients who want to be treated with oriental medicine, paying for it and free of charge. We have income and help people have stable health,” said Mr. Vu.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat Hieu, Director of LPBank Quang Nam branch, the unit's outstanding loans to rural areas as of October 31 were 41 billion VND with 800 customers still having outstanding loans in 161 lending groups.

“Lending to agriculture and rural areas is LPBank’s orientation. We create conditions for people to easily access loans. With the untapped potential in the agricultural and rural areas, we expect people to get rich on their homeland,” said Mr. Hieu.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vu takes care of patients using oriental medicine at Tam Phuc Traditional Medicine Clinic (Nam Son village, Nui Thanh commune). Photo: QUANG VIET

Support farmers affected by storms and floods

Mr. Nguyen Ut, Vice Chairman of the City Farmers' Association, said that up to now, the total outstanding loans for agriculture and rural areas of Agribank in Da Nang are more than 470 billion VND with 4,167 households still having outstanding loans.

Loans from Agribank and LPBank have unlocked the strengths of rural areas, deeply developed the agricultural economy, created jobs, stabilized income for rural people, contributed to building new rural areas, and ensured social security.

“Commercial banks have created a strong agricultural and rural credit ecosystem, changing the face of the countryside for the better. However, consecutive natural disasters with floods and storms have caused great damage to farmers. I hope commercial banks will continue to accompany us, have policies to postpone debt, extend debt, and reduce loan interest rates to help farmers,” said Mr. Ut.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoai Bao, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dien Ban Tay Commune and Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association, acknowledged that farmers in the area suffered huge losses in agricultural production during the recent floods. The commune hopes that commercial banks will support part of the losses for farmers to borrow capital.

Mr. Pham Trong, Deputy Director of State Bank Region 9, informed that the State Bank has just issued a document requesting credit institutions to synchronously deploy measures to support people and businesses affected by storms and floods.

Commercial banks review and evaluate production and business activities and debt repayment capacity of customers affected by storms and floods to promptly apply support measures and remove difficulties for customers.

The resolution includes restructuring debt repayment terms, exempting and reducing interest and fees for customers suffering losses according to current regulations; developing and implementing credit programs and packages with interest rates lower than normal lending rates to restore production and business.

The State Bank requires credit institutions to reduce lending rates by 0.5%-2% per year for 3 to 6 months for existing outstanding loans of customers affected by storms and floods.

“The State Bank of Region 9 requires credit institutions to coordinate with departments and branches to advise the People's Committee of Da Nang City to deploy solutions to support and remove difficulties for people affected by storms and floods,” said Mr. Pham Trong.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/tin-dung-thuong-mai-vao-nong-thon-3309494.html