Viet Nam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on Wednesday was awarded VPBank —"2017 Best Issuing Bank Partner for Women-Owned Businesses in East Asian Pacific”.

It received the award from International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its contribution to the Global Trade Finance Programme (GTFP).

After nearly two years of participating and implementing the GTFP of IFC, VPBank has achieved impressive results in promoting import, export and local trade.

In 2017, VPBank saw remarkable achievements in transaction banking in 2017, including increased off-balance sheet balance, foreign exchange trading balance and fees income. The Bank’s off-balance sheet balance rose 20 per cent, with fees income from trade finance transactions up 13.8 per cent year-on-year. Twenty supply chain financing programmes were implemented with year-on-year TOI growth of 31 per cent.

In 2017, VPBank implemented an initiative to support women business owners with the sponsorship and cooperation of IFC.

Women-owned businesses account for 18 per cent of the SME category and 85 per cent of the household category, which brings some 85 per cent of fees income from insurance and trade finance transactions.

As a leading bank in this segment, VPBank has supported more than 40,000 enterprises accessing banking capital, which helps businesswomen realise their potential and contribute to economic growth. — VNS