The total cost of the project is US$158 million, with US$101.7 million supplied by loans from the WB, while the remainder sourced from the Vietnamese Government, participating financial institutions, and industrial businesses.
Under the project, industrial firms will have access to a new line of credit to finance their purchase of energy-saving and production-optimisation technologies, thereby reducing energy consumption and production costs, whilst enhancing their overall competitiveness on the domestic and international markets.
According to Ousmane Dione, WB Country Director in Vietnam, Vietnam’s energy sector is facing multiple challenges due to limited domestic energy sources and the high power demand in service of economic growth.
In that context, the facilitation of investment in energy-efficient technologies will help to strengthen the competitiveness of Vietnam’s industrial sector, reduce greenhouse emissions, and reduce the need for new coal-fired power plants, he stated.
With support from the project, financial institutions and industrial companies will be able to establish and evaluate the energy saving projects. This will create a new business area for financial institutions, in providing loans to support investments in saving energy in industrial production, thereby expanding the lending scale to industrial businesses.
