Financial Education

Good savings behavior requires discipline, Discipline is learned through practice!

Important Factors for Deciding Where to Save When deciding where to save, you should consider the following: Deposit requirements for the savings account. Is there a minimum deposit required to open the account? Is there a minimum balance required to keep the account open? Are small deposits accepted? Can variable sums be deposited? Can deposits be made frequently? What paperwork is required? Terms of use. Is the saving program compulsory or voluntary? Do you have to commit to saving a set amount at regular intervals or over a certain time…

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Financial Education

VietED MicroFinance: Savings You Can Do It!

Definition of Saving Savings is money put aside by an individual or household for use in the future. A key to good money management, savings help individuals and households manage risk, deal with emergencies, smooth income, build assets, and meet financial goals. People save by putting money aside when it comes in and by spending less when it goes out. Reasons to Save “… there are many times when poor people need sums of money that are bigger than what they have in hand. The need for these ‘usefully large…

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Microfinance

What will it take to end poverty in Vietnam?

What will it take to end poverty in Vietnam? A few months ago, I journeyed to Lao Cai, a predominantly ethnic minority area in Vietnam’s Northern Mountains, to supervise a pilot survey. One older man I encountered—typical of many we saw—was a subsistence farmer with minimal education who spoke only his native language and had barely ventured beyond his village. Members of ethnic minority groups make up 15 percent of the country’s population but account for 70 percent of the extreme poor (measured using a national extreme poverty line). During…

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Microfinance

Does Women’s Leadership in Vietnam Matter?

High primary enrollment ratios for girls and impressive female labour force participation rates are two striking examples of Vietnam’s progress on gender equality. On female leadership, however, Vietnam has a huge unfinished agenda. The good news is that a recent study by Grant Thornton (2013) shows women’s leadership in business is growing and 30 percent of Board of Director roles in Vietnam are held by women compared to the global average of 19 percent. Women’s membership in the Communist Party has also risen from over 20 percent in 2005 to more than…

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Microfinance

Mapping Vietnam’s Poverty Indicators

We just launched the new MapVietnam website at www.worldbank.org/mapvietnam/ which provides access to socioeconomic data at the province and district level in both English and Vietnamese. The site is intended to be a resource for journalists, policymakers, researchers, and citizens looking for information on social and economic situations at a local level. The maps illustrate Vietnam’s wide diversity, which can be lost in aggregate statistics.  It is available in both English and Vietnamese. How do you use the site? Click on an indicator on the left then move your cursor over the…

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Microfinance

How We Measure Poverty in Vietnam

What does it mean to be poor in Vietnam? In Hanoi in the late 80s, poverty was all around. Most of the population then was living under the international poverty line ($1.25 per day). Because there were no living standard surveys to measure poverty, there was no clear indication of what it meant to be poor. A rich person at that time was someone with either a motorbike or a television set, while a poor one was a street beggar or someone who did not have enough rice to eat. …

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Microfinance

What are small and medium enterprises?

On 11 March, the Government issued Decree No. 39/2018 / ND-CP detailing some articles of the Law on Support to Small and Medium Enterprises. This Decree clearly stipulates criteria for determining small and medium enterprises. Criteria for determining small and medium enterprises Accordingly, the decree stipulates that small and medium enterprises are classified by size including micro enterprises, small enterprises and medium enterprises. Micro enterprises in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fishery and industry and construction have an average number of laborers participating in social insurance not exceeding 10 persons…

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Financial Inclusion Microfinance

Vietnam’s financial inclusion priorities: Expanding financial services and moving to a ‘non-cash economy

It’s nighttime and the streets are bustling in Vietnam’s cities and towns. Buoyed by years of strong growth, the country has a burgeoning middle class with purchasing power to sustain restaurants and cafes, full and open late into the night, busy retailers and a high penetration of mobile phones – more than one per person. The economy, however, continues to run on cash and a majority of adults still don’t have formal financial services such as a basic transaction account. Moving to a “non-cash” system is a priority for the…

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Financial Inclusion Microfinance Value chain

VIETNAM MICROFIANCE INSTITUTION BECOME TO PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION, BECOME TO THE FIANANCIAL INTERMEDIATION AND SOCIAL INTERMEDIATION

Microfinance works to improve economic conditions for poor clients, help them increase their incomes and improve their lives, by providing financial services to them. In fact, the poor often have difficulty accessing formal financial services due to a number of barriers, especially without collateral, when accessing formal credit services. In addition, MFIs are aiming to provide long-term clients with the ability to access sustainable financial services. Thus, microfinance is considered as a development tool for the poor, not just a financial service and it targets the following specific development goals:…

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