Case Study
Backyard Living- Integrative Policies Towards Migrant Workers: Housing Microfinance in Greater Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Meeting housing finance needs of low-income people in Vietnam
15 pages
This paper explores how housing microfinance (HMF) can be used to meet the housing needs of migrants in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam.
The Vietnamese metropolis of HCMC is on its way to becoming a megacity. There are marked inequalities between migrants and non-migrants in HCMC. Workers’ accommodations are mostly located in the backyards of local landlords in close proximity to industrial zones. Migrant workers do not have access to formal financial services. There is an opportunity for MFIs to provide financial services and HMF to migrant workers. To do so:
- MFIs have to link up with international NGOs, domestic institutions and local authorities to develop comprehensive concepts;
- Reform processes should focus on improving the banking system as well as the microfinance sector;
- Microfinance must become demand-driven;
- Government must implement laws that reduce inequalities between migrants and non-migrants.
Finally, the Vietnamese government must reduce the housing deficit by integrating housing supply using industrial zone planning or by promoting alternative housing finance schemes.
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