Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade is preparing a proposal to establish a Fund for Promoting the Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, with proposed charter capital of 500 billion dong. The fund would help businesses access preferential finance, upgrade technology, reduce energy costs and improve their competitiveness.
The fund is planned as a non-profit state financial fund outside the state budget. It is expected to connect domestic, international and mobilized private resources so businesses can access preferential capital along with technical support for their projects.
The ministry is continuing to gather opinions from relevant parties on the fund's organizational model, operating mechanism and capital mobilization plan. It will then complete the dossier for submission to the prime minister for consideration and decision.
The proposal is being developed under Law No. 77/2025/QH15, which amended and supplemented the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy. It is also consistent with the energy development and national energy security direction set out in Politburo Resolution No. 70-NQ/TW.
Under the plan being developed, the state budget would provide the fund's charter capital during 2027-2029 from medium-term public investment funds.
The fund is planned to carry out six groups of tasks: mobilizing financial resources, providing wholesale preferential loans, supporting interest rates, providing technical assistance such as energy audits and workforce training, promoting market transformation, and making policy investments.
The fund could allocate up to 10% of its accumulated charter capital each year for non-refundable support operations, including a 2% annual interest-rate subsidy.
For wholesale lending, the fund would provide preferential capital to credit institutions so they could on-lend it to businesses. Loans would have a maximum term of 10 years and a maximum grace period of two years. Under the proposed plan, participating credit institutions would assess borrowers themselves and bear the credit risk.
Under the timeline, the ministry will complete the proposal and submit it to the prime minister for consideration and approval in December. If it is approved as planned, the fund is expected to begin operating on January 1, 2027, and complete its charter-capital funding by 2029.
Sources: Dân Trí
