From 16th to 18th August, 2016, TYM worked with an expert group of IFC on the potential supply of a new credit product – agriculture loan for TYM members. Participants of the meetings included Mr. Ricardo Garcia Tafur, Mr. Conrad V.Desus, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Bích Vân, Ms. Huỳnh Mai Hương from IFC, TYM’s Board of Management, all Heads of Departments, and representative officers of the Research and Communications Department.
The meeting was to present the results of market research recently conducted by IFC in TYM coverage’s areas, thereby evaluating the potentials of agriculture loan, and discussing the co-ordination between TYM and IFC in upcoming time.
After TYM had shared with IFC about the general information and the status of its current activities, IFC had a presentation on the result of agriculture market research in Nghi Loc and Quynh Luu district of Nghe An province. The market research was conducted in several communes as advised by TYM. The target value chains were raising pigs, poultry, deer, peanuts and sugar cane. Based on the results of the study, agricultural main value chains, estimated loan outstanding, financial needs as well as potential risks for Nghe An province were determined, with aim to assist TYM in choosing the right market segments.
While sharing the results of IFC’s study, Mr. Ricardo recommended that TYM should diversify its loan portfolio to prevent the concentration of risks on a value chain. Since it mostly operated in agricultural areas, TYM, together with other existing strengths, had potentials to launch agriculture loans in a large scale. This would also contribute to expanding TYM’s membership. TYM should have a dedicated team for agriculture lending and have suitable training for staff on agriculture production and loan appraisal process.
Considering the expected outcomes of agriculture loans, TYM’s Management Board has decided to pilot this new product. The process of preparation and implementation of the pilot will be done in the time to come.
QT