The above-said information shared by Mr. Tran Anh Quy - Head of Policy Credit Department, Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, State Bank of Vietnam at a Seminar with the topic: "Practicing Sustainable Development Reporting in the banking sector with AI solutions" organized by Banking Times in collaboration with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) on May 21, 2025.
Mr. Tran Anh Quy - Head of Policy Credit Department, Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, State Bank of Vietnam
According to Mr. Quy, sustainable development reports (SDGs) play an extremely important role for banks in the current context and are an inevitable and dominant development trend of the banking industry. In 2024, the number of SDGs reports published increased to a record of 33 organizations, of which 06 more banks have just published SDGs reports.
In fact, there have been many regulations on sustainable development reporting such as Decree No. 155/2020/ND-CP of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Securities Law. Circular No. 96/2020/TT-BTC guiding the disclosure of information on the stock market and Circular No. 116/2020/TT-BTC guiding a number of articles on corporate governance applicable to public companies.
On the part of the State Bank, there are also many policies to encourage SDGs Reporting. For example, Decision No. 986/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on approving the Strategy for Development of the Vietnamese Banking Industry to 2025, with a vision to 2030, which assigns the goal of the Banking Industry actively contributing to sustainable development. Decision No. 731/QD-NHNN sets the goal of actively contributing to the implementation of other national SDGs; enhancing the role and responsibility of the Industry with the solution of proactively and actively participating, strengthening the position of Vietnam; Credit institutions integrate into strategies, programs, business plans, and operational processes. Or Decision 1408/QD-NHNN in 2023 on the Action Plan of the banking sector to implement the National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021-2030 and the Project on tasks and solutions to implement the results of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change issued by the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. In which, credit institutions are encouraged to develop and publish Sustainable Development Reports and publish their "green" commitments. Decision 1604/QD-NHNN in 2018 on approving the Project on developing green banks in Vietnam; Decision 1663/QD-NHNN dated August 6, 2024 on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decision 1604/QD-NHNN issued in 2018 on approving the Project on developing green banks in Vietnam with the aim of actively promoting green growth and sustainable development. The proposed solution is training, propaganda; organizing forums and seminars on the topic of sustainable development; supplementing in the annual report.
In addition to issuing goals and strategies, the SBV also has many activities to support and encourage the practice and reporting of SDGs such as organizing many seminars and events on this topic. Issuing a handbook on environmental and social risk assessment for a number of production and business sectors.
Thanks to that, up to now, the whole system has 13-15 credit institutions that have published SDGs Reports; in 2024 alone, 06 more credit institutions will publish. By March 31, 2025, 58 credit institutions had green outstanding loans, reaching over VND 704,200 billion, an increase of 3.57% compared to the end of 2024, focusing mainly on the fields of clean energy, renewable energy (37%) and green agriculture (29%). In the period of 2017-2024, the average outstanding green credit balance reached nearly 21.2%/year, higher than the general credit growth rate of the economy. By March 31, 2025, 57 credit institutions had assessed environmental and social risks with outstanding loans of more than VND 3.62 million billion.
However, credit institutions also face difficulties in implementing sustainable development reports. For example, investment costs and hiring consultants to develop reports are still high. The number of highly qualified and specialized staff is still limited. In addition, there is a lack of a legal framework to build a green investment portfolio and sustainable development of commercial banks.
To resolve the above difficulties, it is necessary to implement a number of solutions such as: The national green classification list (List of criteria for determining green projects) needs to be issued soon; Continue to promote international cooperation, access and receive technical support, and support appropriate capital sources. At the same time, continue to promote experience exchange and training activities; Improve the quality of consulting, build sustainable development reports for businesses and credit institutions.
On the part of credit institutions, it is also necessary to proactively research and seek advice on building a governance framework towards sustainable development; allocate resources to invest in ESG practices, and publish sustainable development reports.
Source: thoibaonganhang.vn