Turnover of import-export goods in Vietnam reached US$616 billion for the first 10 months of 2022, up 14% over the same period the previous year.
The majority of this growth was driven by Vietnam’s base in commodities and manufacturing, and the country is swiftly positioning itself to be an integral link in the global supply chain, as traditional heavyweight faces China trade restrictions and the lingering effects of a prolonged and economically damaging nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
SMEs have long been adept at figuring out nimble and cost-effective workarounds, but in order to achieve that upper echelon of production capacities and compete with global multinationals, adequate funding and resources would be necessitated.
Interest in both consumer and business loans is steadily increasing, as is the number of digital lending fintechs, both local and international, that are springing up in Vietnam. Validus Vietnam is the local subsidiary of Validus Capital based out of Singapore and has been working with conglomerate TTC Group and early-stage VC Do Ventures to expand its Vietnam operations, promoting digital lending to SMEs here across the retail, food, healthcare, garment, pharmaceutical and logistics sectors.
Fintechs are working with other institutions in several differing ways to offer credit facilities for Vietnamese businesses. Singapore-based Funding Societies is using a US$22.5 million investment from gaming and payments platform provider VNG Corporation to develop a more physical system comprising 150,000 agents and retail locations, with the aim of disbursing US$2 billion worth of unsecured loans to prospective SMEs.
As Vietnamese consumers seek better spending potential, numerous local fintech companies are also establishing relationships with local banks and financial institutions to offer digital lending products for end-users.