Germany, U.S. Seek Loans for Renewable Energy Projects in Vietnam

A consultation workshop on development of a risk sharing facility for renewable energy projects in Vietnam has been held in Hanoi under the support of German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The event receives the German government’s technical support on energy efficient end-use equipment (4E) within the climate finance ready (CF Ready) program which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the USAID, and the government of Czech. The program is aimed to seek commercial loans for renewable energy projects which Vietnam is pursuing to develop in its green growth strategies by 2030. The event attracted the participation of foreign experts and many big banks in Vietnam namely Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Vietnam JS Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank). Since 2014, GIZ and USAID cooperated to launch the CF Ready program in 15 countries. Vietnam benefits the program from training courses on feasibility study of biomass energy, planning and developing biomass energy in different localities, and building financial mechanism for renewable energy projects. Renewable energy, though is relatively new in Vietnam, is strongly driven by government policies and is mostly positioned within sustainable development and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction frameworks. Since the release of the Sustainable Development Strategy 2011-2020, clean and renewable energy development and its growing share in Vietnam’s energy consumption is identified as priorities for a sustainable economy. Renewable energy, however, accounted for only 6% of total energy capacity in Vietnam as of 2013. (Baocongthuong.com.vn Aug 30)