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SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 6 March 2019 -Validus Capital (Validus), Singapore's leading SME financing platform, has successfully raised US$15.2 million (S$20.5 million) in an oversubscribed Series B funding round. Validus Co-founders (from left) Vikas Nahata, Ajit Raikar, Nikhilesh GoelInvestment in Validus' Series B round was led by FMO, Netherlands' public-private development bank. FMO has over 300 investments in banking and financial services institutions (BFSIs). Its investment in Validus marked FMO's first fintech investment in Southeast Asia, a region which saw over US$5.7 billionin fintech investments in 2017 according to KPMG. Participating investors also include Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holdings, Singapore's Openspace Ventures (previously NSI Ventures), Temasek investment arm Vertex Ventures, Thailand's AddVentures by SCG and Vietnam's VinaCapital Ventures. Founded in 2015 in Singapore, Validus brings together accredited individual and institutional lenders and … [Read more...] about P2P Lending Platform Validus Capital Raises Over S$20 Million to Boost SME Growth in Southeast Asia

Workers at a timber export company in Vietnam (Illustrative image. Source: VNA) He talked about the official conclusion of legal review process for the EVFTA and agreement on the bilateral investment protection deal in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency in Hanoi on June 28 after his recent working trip to Belgium. The minister said at a working session with EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom in Brussels on June 25, the two sides agreed to divide contents related to investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) into a separate deal called the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA). The EU and Vietnam have completed all contents in preparation for the signing and ratification of the EVFTA and IPA, he said, adding that the legal review process for the two deals has been finalised. Vietnam is striving to complete the final stages to reach the signing of the EVFTA at the end of this year, he said. He noted that up to 99% of EU tariffs will … [Read more...] about EVFTA offers ‘golden’ opportunities for businesses

The investments are poured through the acquisition, capital contribution or comprehensive co-operation agreements with local financial companies and banks. Besides the two fully foreign-owned Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank in Vietnam, many other major RoK banks have also set up branches and representative offices in the country, such as KEB Hana, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kookmin, Busan and Nonghyup. Source: Internet Early this month, the Hana Financial Group was the latest case of the RoK’s financial institutions to expand business in Vietnam by acquiring a stake in the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), according to Business Korea. The Korean business portal quoted a local financial official that KEB Hana Bank was going forward with the acquisition and was reportedly close to signing a deal. The deal will proceed in a way that BIDV will raise new capital through capital increase to improve its financial structure, and Hana Bank will purchase the … [Read more...] about RoK firms increase investments in Vietnam’s financial market

When trade grows, promoting supply chain financing will help improve the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSEME) in Vietnam, enabling them to join global supply chains, Overview of the conference. Experts said local producers and suppliers urgently need efficient financing to support their trade cycles with global partners. — Photo courtesy of IFC Vietnam’s foreign trade volume has increased in recent years, with free trade agreements opening up new market opportunities for local businesses, experts said at the fourth annual conference on supply chain financing in Asia-Pacific in HCM City on Monday. However, lack of working capital and transaction banking services such as supply chain finance (SCF) partially hinders producers and suppliers from accepting large orders or developing new relationships with their value chain actors. Without SCF solutions, suppliers and distributors are not able to optimise their working capital management by … [Read more...] about Vietnam needs to promote access to supply chain financing : experts

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade talks to Hải Quan (Customs) newspaper about trade promotion strategies to help Vietnam take advantage of free trade agreements. Vietnam seeks sustainable agricultural exports via official channel Vietnam's agriculture applies science-technology for sustainable development What do you think about the impacts of trade promotion activities on Vietnam’s export turnover? There have been recently a number of trade promotion activities including the national trade promotion programme, national brand programme and other activities aiming to improve the capacity of and provide information to enterprises. These activities have boosted export turnover of Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources. There have been thousands of training courses each year for SMEs nationwide to improve their capacity, develop their products, … [Read more...] about Vietnam prioritises trade promotion on e-commerce platforms