Microfinance for the Poor in Viet Nam

Abstract: Most of the research on hunger elimination and poverty reduction in the global scope as well as in Vietnam shows that microfinance is an effective tool which has been successfully applied in many countries for the purpose of fighting against poverty and hunger. In general, the performance of hunger elimination and poverty reduction in Vietnam has gained impressive achievements in accordance with proposed Millennium Development Goals. However, the efficiency of microfinance service for the poor is still inadequate. Together with success in the innovation of legal framework, microfinance market becomes busy but in a muddle, with the principles in which the market is still governed by subsidiary lending mechanism. In addition, Vietnam microfinance system is still at a start in comparison with the regional and international standard. The writer would like to share his opinions and propose some solutions and recommendations in order to support microfinance organizations to stably operate and to help the poor in Vietnam for a long time and in a sustainable manner.

Key words: microfinance; financial services; poor people; poverty

JEL codes: I390