HANOI: From carbon emissions to product traceability, global markets are placing unprecedented pressure on agricultural exporters to go green.
In Vietnam, experts believe the next transformation of farming will not be driven by seeds or machinery alone, but by a fundamental shift in how capital flows into the agricultural economy.
According to Nguyen Quang Huy, head of the Faculty of Finance and Banking at Nguyen Trai University, major export markets are increasingly enforcing stricter standards on environmental protection, carbon emissions and traceability.
As a result, green transformation is no longer optional, but is gradually becoming a prerequisite for agricultural products seeking deeper access to international markets.
In this transition, green credit is viewed as a critical tool for reshaping production models and enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnam’s agricultural sector.
Statistics show that by early this year, outstanding loans for agriculture and rural development reached approximately 4.2 quadrillion dong, up more than 14% compared to the previous year.
This accounted for over 22% of total outstanding credit in the economy and directly supported more than 14.6 million customers nationwide.
In 2025 alone, agricultural credit exceeded four quadrillion dong, representing 23% to 25% of total outstanding loans across the economy.
However, most lending still relied on traditional collateral-based models.
Meanwhile, green loans by the end of 2025 reached between 780 trillion and 850 trillion dong, but only slightly more than 3% was allocated to the agriculture sector, agricultural products and fisheries.
Huy noted that the government had taken an important step by issuing Decision 21 in July 2025 on environmental criteria and the certification of projects classified as green.
This marked the first formal foundation for developing green credit in a more systematic manner.
Nevertheless, implementation remains fragmented due to the absence of a unified green standards framework across the banking system, according to Huy.
Each financial institution currently applies different assessment criteria, making it difficult for businesses to access capital and creating inconsistencies in project evaluation.
At the same time, the current credit model reveals significant limitations.
Capital flows are still mainly directed toward individual small-scale farming households, while green and digital agriculture require close integration along value chains.
This weakens capital efficiency and hinders the development of large-scale production zones.
Another major challenge lies in the lack of agricultural data. Existing data remains fragmented and incomplete, while the credit system for green and digital agriculture requires transparent information, traceability, and real-time risk monitoring to function effectively.
The difficulties are not limited to farmers. Many enterprises and cooperatives also lack the capacity to meet green transition requirements.
Businesses still face shortcomings in standards on environmental, social, and governance or ESG practices, while cooperatives struggle with governance issues, and many farmers lack digital skills and access to technology.
Experts warn that without simultaneously addressing barriers related to data infrastructure, production linkages and credit mechanisms, the transition toward green and digital agriculture will proceed far more slowly than expected. — Viet Nam News/ANN
