State Bank of Vietnam Region 13 surveys uptake of preferential lending for the 1 million hectares high-quality low-emissions rice project in Tay Ninh

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Region 13 conducted a field survey with Tay Ninh’s Department of Agriculture and Environment to assess how the preferential loan programme is being implemented for the project on developing 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emissions rice linked to green growth in the Mekong Delta to 2030. The delegation visited Long Thuan Agricultural Cooperative and worked with Huu Thanh MTK Joint Stock Company to gather feedback on credit access, capital needs and operational obstacles. During discussions, Agribank Dong Long An Branch reported applying loan rates around 1 percentage point below its usual lowest lending rate, with preferential rates currently ranging from 4.5% to 4.8% per year depending on tenor and production plans. Borrowers were also reminded they may access other loans under prevailing rules to finance machinery, inputs and scale expansion, subject to repayment capacity. SBV Region 13 reported outstanding loans under the preferential programme of VND 32.1bn across the region, with Tay Ninh accounting for around 10 borrowing households in cooperatives and outstanding loans of about VND 2.1bn. SBV Region 13 and provincial counterparts plan to use the survey findings to address practical bottlenecks and to strengthen dissemination of the package’s conditions, interest rates and loan limits to support wider participation by households, cooperatives and businesses in Tay Ninh.