Hearing a lot but lacking information, difficult to access
In the context of increasingly promoted sustainable development goals, green credit has become an effective support tool for environmentally friendly projects. However, many businesses still have difficulty accessing this capital source.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Trinh Duc Kien - Deputy Director of Ke Go Company Limited affirmed that if there is no support from the Government or other financial institutions in unblocking preferential capital for businesses and using commercial loans, the green transformation process will be very difficult.
As an exporting enterprise, we hear a lot about green credit but lack information and do not know how to approach it. These are long-term investments, so they are not attractive to commercial credit institutions, which prioritize efficiency and capital recovery capability. Without a Government guarantee, it will be very difficult to implement. However, financial support is not only a preferential loan but can be in many other forms such as tax incentives, priority public procurement for green transformation businesses - confirmed by independent agencies - Mr. Kien shared.
According to Dr. Tran Cong Thang - Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), the two bottlenecks that make businesses struggle in green transformation today are still the problem of economic efficiency and investment costs.
Green transformation requires large capital to invest in new technology, machinery and production processes. Without support from policies or preferential financial sources, many small and medium-sized enterprises will have difficulty implementing it" - Dr. Tran Cong Thang said.
Need to issue a specific set of standards on green projects
In an interview with Lao Dong, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang said that green credit growth is still slow because there is still a lack of unified regulations on a set of general criteria and at the same time, there are no specific instructions from ministries and branches related to the green classification list as a basis for credit institutions to appraise and supervise when granting green credit.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thuong Lang recommended that there should be active participation from State agencies in developing and promulgating clear and specific criteria and regulations for green credit. Moreover, enhancing cooperation between financial institutions, enterprises and management agencies will contribute to promoting capital flows into the green sector more effectively.
To remove obstacles in policies and price mechanisms, in mid-2024, the Government issued the following documents: Decree 135/2024/ND-CP stipulates mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power and Decree 80/2024/ND-CP stipulates the mechanism for direct electricity purchase and sale between renewable energy power generation units and large electricity customers. However, banks are still waiting for more detailed guidance Circulars to implement these decrees.
The banking industry has pioneered the greening of investment capital flows, linking green growth targets with the Industry Development Strategy to 2025, with a vision to 2030. From 2017 - 2024, the system's credit balance for green economic sectors will have an average growth rate of more than 20%/year. Notably, in 2017, only 5 credit institutions participated in green credit, but up to now, 50 credit institutions have incurred outstanding green credit debts. As of December 31, 2024, outstanding green credit reached over VND 679,000 billion, up 9.37% compared to the end of 2023, accounting for over 4.3% of total outstanding loans in the entire economy. Mainly focusing on renewable energy, clean energy (accounting for more than 41%) and green agriculture (over 29%).
