News from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP)

The goal is to encourage the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those led by women, and to support green investments, such as those needed for the transition to renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. These are the main objectives of the $35 million loan granted by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to Vietnam’s Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank, the first signed in the Asian country. The deal comes as part of a project spearheaded by the International Finance Corporation-an institution under the World Bank-in which the development finance institution DEG, owned by Germany’s national development bank KfW, the Dutch FMO, Norway’s Norfund and Sweden’s Swedfund, have joined, for a total amount of about $300 million.

The system initiative aims to develop small and medium-sized entrepreneurship in a country of particular interest to Italy’s business fabric, in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Vietnam represents the tenth target country for Italian exports in the entire Asia-Pacific region, as also emerged during the last meeting of the CDP Business Matching program, a platform designed to foster the development of business relations between Italian and foreign companies in which more than 200 entities participated.

The financing will mainly be used to increase the Vietnamese bank’s credit portfolio in favor of local SMEs, which account for 97% of the country’s businesses and employ more than 60% of the population. Additional targets include investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency and support for women-led enterprises.