Last month, I visited Vietnam with my wife and her high school friends. \u00a0My purpose was not just to enjoy their delightful company, but to see how much Vietnam has changed since I lived there many years ago. \u00a0I was an expat in Vietnam in the 1990s, at the height of the \u0110oi Moi \u00a0renewal campaign, when the country was transitioning from a centralized to a socialist-oriented market economy. I saw first-hand how the business and agricultural reforms they adopted led to economic growth.<\/p>\n
In 1992, while working for a consortium of Catholic NGOs, the Cooperation Internationale pour le Developpement et la Solidarite (CIDSE) as credit advisor and representative for southern provinces of Vietnam, I was stationed in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Later on, I became the credit advisor for the Indochina Region, covering Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. My task was to promote development by strengthening local mass-based organizations in the implementation and strengthening of credit and savings programs for women. I worked closely with the Vietnam Women\u2019s Union (VWU) in Hanoi, HCMC WU, Hue WU, and Soc Trang WU, HCMC Labor Union and, VACVINA Gardeners\u2019 Organization in HCMC, among others.<\/p>\n
I lived in Vietnam for almost four years. \u00a0The cultural immersion while working with the women\u2019s union towards empowering the most vulnerable was a very memorable experience. I eventually returned home, but for the next ten years, I continued to do consultancy work for Vietnam with several organizations like Catholic Relief Services, Danish Red Cross, and Oxfam America. From 2009-2012, I served intermittently as the mission leader of an Asian Development Bank project, working with the State Bank of Vietnam to promote microfinance and enable microfinance institutions (MFIs) to be licensed as formal financial organizations.<\/p>\n
The Tinh Thuong One-Member Limited Liability Microfinance Institution was initially established by the VWU in 1992 as TYM or Affectionate Fund to implement the government\u2019s poverty alleviation program. \u00a0I had the privilege of helping them set up this microfinance program for women. TYM expanded over time, and became a separate entity from VWU in 1998. \u00a0In 2006, it became a revenue-generating non-profit organization, and in 2010, it transformed into the Tinh Thuong One-Member Limited Liability Microfinance Institution \u2013 the first licensed MFI in Vietnam.<\/p>\n
TYM\u2019s mission is to improve the quality of life of low-income individuals, with priority given to women, through microfinance products and services. While credit is the main service, TYM also provides many savings products to help women accumulate assets and sustainable resources. Diverse social services are also provided to members, their families, and communities.<\/p>\n
I was very happy to reunite with TYM\u2019s first Director, the very hard working Mdme. Do Thi Tan, together with Ms. Pham Hoai Giang, who used to head the VWU\u2019s International Department. \u00a0 We had a very nice time catching up and reminiscing about TYM\u2019s early years.<\/p>\n
I met TYM\u2019s management team over dinner, hosted by its current Director, Ms. Pham Thi Thuy Linh, who reported that their outreach is now at 206,000 clients, served through 22 branches all over Vietnam. Their total loan portfolio is now more than VND2,700 billion (USD114 million) with a near perfect repayment rate. They embarked on digitalization to enhance operational efficiency and offer greater convenience to clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cTYM was recognized as one of the Top 3 performing financial service providers in Asia by 60 Decibels. This award reaffirms our commitment to excellence and innovation in the financial inclusion sector, \u201d says Thuy Linh with pride.<\/p>\n
I was elated to find out that TYM is contributing to seven out \u00a0the 17 Social Development Goals (SDG): SDG 1 (poverty reduction), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), and SDG 13 (climate action). \u00a0In 2023, TYM disbursed US$201 million in loans, supported 58 rural facilities; benefitted over 11,000 women from their social and cultural initiatives; and provided 373 scholarships and capacity-building programs to more than 5,000 women. \u00a0TYM promotes gender equality since 100 percent of its beneficiaries and 80 percent of its staff are women. \u00a0It promoted economic growth by disbursing US$77 million loans for business and job creation. It promoted financial inclusion by penetrating about 79 percent of rural areas.<\/p>\n
Kudos to my friends in TYM, and your continuing efforts to transform lives! Development workers like us are like gardeners, planting tiny seeds of hope, praying that our efforts will reach fertile ground and flourish. There are no guarantees that the seeds we have sown will take root. \u00a0But we persevere, because, like any good planter, we nurture hope.
\n\u2018Hope makes the world go round,\u2019 as the saying goes. \u00a0My recent visit to Vietnam is another testament to the transforming power of hope.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cSowing seeds of hope gives you the opportunity for a harvest of light.\u201d \u2013 Kathryn Lang<\/p>\n
(Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip is a poverty eradication advocate. He is the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually-Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI).)<\/em><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month, I visited Vietnam with my wife and her high school friends. \u00a0My purpose was not just to enjoy their delightful company, but to see how much Vietnam has changed since I lived there many years ago. \u00a0I was an expat in Vietnam in the 1990s, at the height of the \u0110oi Moi \u00a0renewal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9976,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9974\/revisions\/9976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tymfund.org.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}