Paper
Rural and Microfinance in the Lower Mekong Region: Policies, Institutions, and Market Outcomes
Analyzing the microfinance sector in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam
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144 pages
This paper reviews microfinance operations in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Vietnam over the past decade, focusing on the policy environment, institutions and market outcomes. It compares the microfinance sectors of the three countries, identifies challenges and possible future development patterns for each country and makes recommendations.
The paper notes that though Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam entered the microfinance market in similar conditions, they have diverged significantly in approaches to microfinance and results achieved. Observations include:
- Vietnam's microfinance industry depends heavily on the government for provision of regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure and delivery of products and services;
- Cambodia's rural and microfinance sector has one government bank, and several successful private MFIs which provide support and technical assistance to the government;
- Lao PDR has a huge unmet demand for financial services in rural areas, and the state owned agricultural promotion bank is the sole provider of agricultural microfinance.
The paper concludes by recommending broad measures to address specific microfinance sector development needs of each country.
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