Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will visit Vietnam from May 30 to June 1 in her role as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. 

Vietnam is developing a national strategy for inclusive finance to promote adequate, affordable and sustainable access to financial services. The strategy’s aim is to improve the economic circumstances of the Vietnamese people and foster development.

After arriving in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of May 30, Queen Máxima will travel on to the city of Da Lat in the central highlands. 

Agriculture and horticulture dominate the local landscape, with a great many small farms. 

One of the themes of the visit is value chain finance in agriculture, i.e. financing activities in the chain of products and services that make up a production or marketing process, and the increase in value during these processes.

Queen Máxima will visit an agricultural business, where she will talk to the owner and other farmers about the Horti Dalat project. 

The project, which is supported by the Rabobank Foundation and implemented by the Vietnam-based food consultancy Fresh Studio, provides financing and technical support. Farmers receive loans for the construction of greenhouses, advice on how to improve yields, and help in setting up a business plan. 

The project also links farmers with retailers, giving participants a more secure market for their products and a fixed income. Farmers agree among themselves which crops to grow, to prevent overproduction. 

Queen Máxima will also visit a mobile telephony shop that provides banking services to customers. 

In the afternoon, she will return to Ho Chi Minh City, where she will meet with representatives from agricultural businesses and civil society organizations and discuss the financing of agricultural activities.

On May 31, she will travel to the capital, Hanoi, where she will have talks in the morning with international partners such as the World Bank Group, the UN Capital Development Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and the local UN office on the state of inclusive financing in Vietnam. 

There will also be a roundtable discussion with private partners like financial institutions and FinTech companies on their role in improving access to financial services. 

In the afternoon, she will talk with State Bank of Vietnam Governor Le Minh Hung, as the central bank coordinates the development of the national strategy for inclusive financing. She will also meet the Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

On June 1, Queen Máxima will meet with Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, and Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung. In the afternoon, the State Bank of Vietnam will host a roundtable discussion with representatives from ministries and other organizations involved in preparing and coordinating the national strategy for inclusive finance. 

Queen Máxima will also meet Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and discuss developments in inclusive finance in Vietnam at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.

VN Economic Times