The PAN Group and Standard Chartered Vietnam on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding. — Photo courtesy of the firm

DUBAI — The PAN Group and Standard Chartered Vietnam on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) financial solutions and services.

This partnership took place within the framework of the World Climate Action Summit at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), witnessed by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính along with members of the high-level delegation from Việt Nam.

Accordingly, Standard Chartered Vietnam supports PAN in accessing financial solutions and services based on ESG factors to meet the investment needs in the group's sustainable development projects. These projects will have the chance to access green credit lines and sustainable linked loans in medium and long term with various supports in terms of interest rates and disbursement procedures.

To be included in the programme, projects need to meet specific criteria and adhere to Standard Chartered Vietnam's sustainable finance framework, as well as the principles of green lending or green bonds.

This collaborative effort presents mutually beneficial opportunities. Specifically, The PAN Group can expand its financial options for the group's development projects and subsidiaries through ESG-related solutions. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Vietnam could accompany and continue to support PAN's green projects in the future. This, in turn will help Vietnamese businesses gain access to the green finance market, which reinforces the Government's strong commitment to sustainable development goals, emission reduction and carbon neutrality.

CEO of PAN Group, Nguyễn Thị Trà My said that since PAN places a high priority on sustainable development, the group is particularly interested in the opportunity to reach out to partners and green financial solutions through exchanges and cooperation with experienced organisations and businesses worldwide. This helps the group carry out its projects by providing crucial financial resources and expertise.

The PAN Group has been carrying out parallel sustainable development projects in the agricultural sector. It formally collaborated with the People's Committee of Đồng Tháp Province to develop the "improving rice farmers' income" project. The project aims to form and develop a multi-value rice chain, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase farmers' income by 30 per cent by 2025. The results attained in the project are expected to be replicated and implemented in other provinces across the country.

Members of the group's agricultural business, including Vinaseed, VFC and Vinarice, are working with a number of respectable partners to establish a closed-loop rice value chain in the Mekong Delta. This includes supplying quality input materials, providing standardised farming solutions, and guaranteeing the purchase of output products, processing, packaging, and branding for distribution. In the initial phase, the value chain is implemented on a model scale, and then it will be evaluated and expanded based on the effectiveness attained in each area.

The State Bank of Việt Nam reports that since 2017 green credit has seen an average annual growth rate of 23 per cent, with agriculture being one of the two sectors attracting the most green capital, accounting for 31 per cent of the total green credit outstanding. Experts estimate that to achieve the net-zero emissions target by 2050, Việt Nam needs to mobilise resources of up to US$144 billion. This poses the challenge of figuring out how to unlock green capital flows. — VNS