Why it’s hard for Vietnamese SMEs to access credit

Of Vietnam’s small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) only  30 percent have ready access to credit, whereas the remaining 70 percent have difficulty borrowing or no means to borrow at all, according to Doanh Nhan Saigon. Citing ‘experts’ the publication lists a lack of: financial infrastructure, collateral, product variety, diversity in credit institutions, transparent financial reporting on the part of enterprises, and information on enterprises, as key barriers to borrowing for SMEs.
Note: Foreign investment in Vietnam’s banking sector and this means that foreign expertise and competition is also. As a result, there isn’t a lot of impetus to develop or innovate which could be why there is a limited product range and little diversity in credit institutions. It’s also common for SMEs to limit their tax liability by carrying out transactions in cash and when credit lending limits were hit last year and banks stopped lending, many SMEs were forced to liquidate assets to stay afloat–ergo, they have few assets left to use as collateral.