In opening remarks at a roundtable on applying artificial intelligence to sustainability reporting in banking, the State Bank of Vietnam highlighted sustainable development reporting as a core part of financial-sector strategy and positioned AI as a practical tool to improve ESG data collection, analysis, reporting quality and governance. It also indicated that inputs from the event will be used to further refine the legal and supervisory framework for sustainability reporting and to accelerate AI adoption in this area. The State Bank of Vietnam referenced existing banking-sector action plans to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda (Decision 1731/QD-NHNN) and to deliver the national green growth strategy and COP26 implementation agenda (Decision 1408/QD-NHNN), including tasks for commercial banks to embed sustainable development targets into strategies and business processes and encouragement for credit institutions to publish sustainability reports and green commitments. The update also pointed to market take-up, including 33 entities producing standalone sustainability reports in 2024, near-universal inclusion of sustainability content in annual reports under Circular 96/2020/TT-BTC, around 13–15 commercial banks issuing standalone sustainability reports, and a further six banks publishing reports in 2024 and early 2025. On green credit, it reported that by end-Q1 2025, 58 credit institutions had green lending outstanding of more than VND 704.244 trillion, up 3.57% from end-2024 and representing 4.3% of total credit, concentrated in renewable and clean energy (over 37%) and green agriculture (over 29%). The roundtable agenda was framed around three themes: aligning Vietnamese practice with international sustainability reporting standards and investor expectations, addressing implementation constraints such as data systems, analytical capacity and legal guidance, and developing AI and big data use cases including automated ESG data capture, data standardisation, environmental and social risk and impact analytics, “smart” reporting models, and improved supervisory review and assessment.
State Bank of Vietnam 2025-05-21
State Bank of Vietnam promotes AI-enabled ESG reporting and signals further work on sustainability reporting rules
The State Bank of Vietnam emphasized AI's role in enhancing sustainability reporting in banking, highlighting its potential to improve ESG data collection and governance. The bank referenced action plans aligning with the UN 2030 Agenda and national green growth strategies, noting increased market adoption of sustainability reporting. By Q1 2025, green lending by 58 credit institutions reached over VND 704.244 trillion, with significant investments in renewable energy and green agriculture.