<p>An Binh Joint-Stock Bank (ABBANK) on May 24 officially signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) on joining the Trade Finance Programme (TFP) – one of prominent programmes enabling Vietnamese enterprises to increase competitiveness and get more opportunities to promote economy.Under the agreement, ABBANK will promote the implementation of regulations on safe management and operation, towards constantly improving the quality of services and helping enterprises easily access international market.</p> <p>Becoming a member of the TFP, ABBANK will serve as an effective bridge, bringing opportunities to Vietnamese firms to expand links with other 200 member banks of the TFP worldwide.“Our Trade Finance Programme aims to help Vietnam and Vietnamese businesses expand trade opportunities, increase competitiveness, and promote trade-led inclusive growth,” said Steven Beck, ADB’s Head of Trade Finance.According to Cu Anh Tuan, Chief Executive Officer of ABBANK, the signing with the TFP marks the start of a positive development and close relationship between ADB and ABBANK in developing banking services of the Vietnamese bank.</p> <p>Cooperating with the TFP will not only bring higher business efficiency, but also create an opportunity for our bank to affirm its brand in the banking and financial market, he stressed, hoping that ADB’s continued trust and support will further promote trade development between Vietnam and other countries.The same day, Tien Phong Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (TPBank) signed a similar agreement with ADB. According to Nguyen Hung, Chief Executive Officer of TPBank, ADB's extensive network of banks and other financial institutions will provide great opportunities for TPBank to expand its global partnerships.</p> <p>He said that the guarantee limit from ADB shall be used to support Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises to optimize their businesses so they can contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth.ABBANK is one of the leading commercial joint-stock banks and is among the top ten largest commercial banks in terms of charter capital in Vietnam. Its current charter capital exceeds 5,319 billion VND (about 234 million USD) and it has an extensive network of 164 transaction offices located in 34 provinces nationwide.Meanwhile, TPBank is one of the most dynamic commercial banks in Vietnam with total assets of around 106,000 billion VND (4.6 billion USD), about 4,000 employees, and an extensive network of 55 branches and transaction offices across Vietnam. Currently, with more than 1.5 million individual customers and businesses, TPBank has been asserting its position as a strong, sustainable and healthy bank in the country.</p> <p>To date, TFP has supported 8.2 billion USD in trade through 5,814 transactions covering both guarantees and direct funding in Vietnam. Out of TFP’s total transactions in Vietnam, 67 percent are related to small and medium-sized enterprises. TFP is currently working with 11 commercial banks in Vietnam and, with the signing of agreements with ABBANK and TPBank, this will increase to 13 commercial banks.</p>