Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) will issue Vietnam’s first blue bonds, supported by a USD$50 million investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
This is AIIB’s first investment in a blue bond, financial instruments designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects.
IFC and AIIB are each subscribing $25 million to enhance SeABank’s funding for sustainable ocean and water-related economic activities, including aquaculture, fisheries and water supply. This deal aims to catalyze Vietnam’s blue finance market, foster green bonds and support small businesses to promote financial inclusion.
Each of the institutions will also subscribe $50 million to boost SeABank’s financing of green assets such as green buildings, renewable energy projects, and energy efficiency initiatives.
Vietnam is a founding member of AIIB, a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow. The country has long coastlines that have great potential for developing a blue economy, and thus has promising potential with regard to the investment goals of SeABank.
“Viet Nam’s Nationally Determined Contribution lays emphasis on the importance of resource mobilization from financial and international credit institutions to support climate mitigation and adaptation ambitions,” said Gregory Liu, AIIB Director General of Financial Institutions and Funds, Global. “AIIB is very pleased to work with SeABank and IFC in this innovative transaction that will supplement ongoing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to thematic capital market development. We look forward to seeing more issuances from other Vietnamese financial institutions.”
Beijing-based AIIB is a multinational development bank with 106 member countries. The IFC is a private sector arm of the World Bank.
“We hope our partnerships with financial institutions such as AIIB and IFC will supplement SeABank’s capital sources to foster green credit and sustainable strategies associated with the green and blue economies,” said Le Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of the board of directors at SeABank, in the statement.
