First Vietnamese Bank Buys Debts from Foreign Partners

The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) inked a contract with three foreign financial institutions to buy back debts worth US$20 million to become the sole debt owner of the Far East Medical Vietnam Co.Ltd, state media reported Tuesday.

 

BIDV reached its deals with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Swiss’s Proparco to fund the Far East Medical Vietnam Co.Ltd for construction of the France-Vietnam Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said BIDV General Director Tran Bac Ha.

 

Far East Medical Viet Nam Co borrowed a total of US$26 million for its FV Hospital five years ago, including US$6 million from BIDV, US$7.5 million from IFC, US$8 million from ADB and the rest from Proparco Fund, an arm of the French Development Agency, he said.

 

The loan contract has now expired, and BIDV decided to buy the loans from the three foreign partners and extend the contract by more ten years, Ha added.

 

The extension is expected to reduce financial burden for the company and facilitate its effective operation, Ha affirmed at the contract signing ceremony.

 

”This is the first time BIDV has bought back loans from foreign financial institutions. This is a new activity in Vietnam, proving BIDV’s prestige and capacity with its partners inside and outside the country,” Tran Bac Ha emphasized.

 

The wholly foreign-invested FV Hospital is one of the country’s leading prestigious and modern one to date. (VNA, VTC)