On July 4, 2025, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) organized a broad-based consultation workshop on the Draft Master Plan “Comprehensive Restructuring of the People’s Credit Fund (PCF) System and Co-operative Bank of Vietnam (Co-opBank) for the 2025–2030 Period, with Vision to 2045.” The workshop was held in a hybrid format (in-person and online). Deputy Governor of the SBV Doan Thai Son chaired the workshop.
Attending the workshop were representatives of the Party, central ministries and agencies, People’s Committees of northern provinces and cities, SBV departments and units, a number of commune-level People’s Committees, Deposit Insurance of Vietnam, affiliated branches, and several PCFs. From Co-opBank, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong – Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Mr. Nguyen Van Giang – Standing Deputy General Director, were present.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son stated: Since its establishment in 1993, the PCF system has been gradually expanded and strengthened, playing an important role in providing banking services in rural areas, significantly contributing to poverty reduction, promoting local socio-economic development, and supporting social welfare at the grassroots level. However, the system has also revealed limitations such as deviations from the cooperative principles, weak financial and governance capacity, and a lack of strong system linkage.
Amid national institutional reforms, administrative restructuring, and comprehensive digital transformation, these changes not only drive private sector growth but also require economic organizations to innovate strongly to adapt to the country’s new development context. In recent years, the Party and the State have issued numerous resolutions and policies for comprehensive economic development, including for the PCF system. The Master Plan aims to propose comprehensive and breakthrough solutions to restructure cooperative credit institutions in accordance with current requirements and future development orientations.
Sharing the same viewpoint, Ms. Tran Kim Anh – Deputy Director General of the General Economic Department, Central Policy and Strategy Committee – assessed that as of the end of 2024, Vietnam had 1,176 PCFs operating in 57 provinces and cities, with nearly 2 million members. The system’s total assets reached VND 191.5 trillion, NPL ratio remained very low at 0.68%, and system-wide profits grew significantly, reflecting effective management and increasing community trust. For Co-opBank, the system’s central organization, total assets reached VND 60.3 trillion with an NPL ratio of just 0.35%, showing improved risk management capacity.
Ms. Tran Kim Anh also emphasized that the PCF system must continue promoting mutual support, focusing on serving members, farmers, small producers, and vulnerable groups. Additionally, she noted that Co-opBank must fully perform its central role: managing liquidity, supporting risk control, providing technology and human resource training, and developing green credit, agricultural credit, and rural development finance. Linkage should not only be an operational requirement but a strategic necessity to build a sustainable community financial ecosystem and public trust.
At the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Giang – Deputy General Director of Co-opBank – presented a statement affirming that the “Comprehensive Restructuring of the PCF and Co-operative Bank System for the 2025–2030 Period, with Vision to 2045” is a major policy of the SBV Governor, concretizing the orientations of the Party, the State, and the Government. The goal is to further consolidate and improve the performance of the PCF and Co-opBank system, contributing to national financial system stability and development. Mr. Giang also highlighted Co-opBank’s pivotal role in supporting the PCF system through capital harmonization, emergency lending to distressed PCFs to prevent systemic collapse, digital banking services for nearly 1,000 PCFs, full funding for training and electronic fund transfer system deployment, and involvement in inspecting 300 PCFs and dispatching nearly 60 staff to directly support weak PCFs…
This clearly demonstrates Co-opBank’s irreplaceable role in maintaining the safety and efficiency of the PCF system, affirming the significance of cooperative credit institutions in rural and agricultural development as aligned with Party and State directions. However, Mr. Giang also pointed out Co-opBank’s difficulties in fulfilling its central role: limited financial capacity with charter capital just over VND 3,000 billion, inadequate resources to invest in technology infrastructure, a thin operating network with few branches and transaction offices, and inconsistent legal frameworks with weak horizontal linkages among PCFs, hindering the cooperative model’s effectiveness.
To improve the Master Plan, Co-opBank proposed several specific solutions: enhance Co-opBank’s capacity through charter capital increase plans; closely coordinate with the SBV and relevant departments to improve the legal framework for Co-opBank’s operations with PCFs; recommend the SBV issue regulations for lending to PCFs under special control, early intervention, or experiencing mass withdrawals; and elevate Co-opBank’s comprehensive role in the system and its interconnectivity.
lso participating in the workshop were representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Hanoi People’s Committee, Deposit Insurance of Vietnam, regional SBV branches, and several PCFs. All affirmed that developing the cooperative credit institution system – particularly PCFs and Co-opBank – is not only an economic mission but a crucial political and social task, contributing to the national goals of “a prosperous people, a strong country, democracy, equity, and civilization” and to building ecological agriculture, modern rural areas, and civilized farmers, aiming for sustainable development by 2030 and a vision to 2045.
Delegates expressed strong belief that, with the close direction of the Party and the State, the consensus and determination of all stakeholders, and the unity of the system, Vietnam will succeed in restructuring the PCF system and building a transparent, strong, modern, and community-connected credit institution network for sustainable development.
To continue gathering feedback from southern region stakeholders and complete the Master Plan, the SBV will organize a workshop in Can Tho City on July 11, 2025.
Some highlights from the workshop:
Deputy Governor of the SBV Doan Thai Son chairing the workshop
Ms. Tran Kim Anh – Deputy Director General of the General Economic Department, Central Policy and Strategy Committee, speaking at the workshop
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Co-opBank attending the workshop
Mr. Nguyen Van Giang – Deputy General Director of Co-opBank presenting remarks at the workshop
Full view of the workshop
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