Plan B
Tomorrow I am going to meet the director from the Center for Economic Development Studies, at the Vietnam National University. They have a faculty of economics over there which specialises in granting aid to microfinance projects. I hope this will be informative as I am concerned that the USAID model will crash and burn and I want to have another avenue to pursue while I am still here in Hanoi.
It seems that microfinance in Vietnam really pertains only to the very poor, and usually in rural areas. The type of scheme that we are looking at here at the MDE is for students that would be considered middle class, even though compared to the West their standard of living is low. According to our surveys our students mean USD income per month is US$120, compared to someone on the poverty line who earns less than a tenth of that amount.
As I have been in touch with three of the biggest local banks and none of them offer a suitable loan product, I am left to assume that this sector is not serviced very well, if at all.
It seems that microfinance in Vietnam really pertains only to the very poor, and usually in rural areas. The type of scheme that we are looking at here at the MDE is for students that would be considered middle class, even though compared to the West their standard of living is low. According to our surveys our students mean USD income per month is US$120, compared to someone on the poverty line who earns less than a tenth of that amount.
As I have been in touch with three of the biggest local banks and none of them offer a suitable loan product, I am left to assume that this sector is not serviced very well, if at all.
posted by Megan at 10:45 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home