Microcredit changes the lives of rural women

by Tran Thu Van

HA NOI — Luu Thi Sau would have hardly ever imagined that a tiny loan of VND300,000 (about US$20) could have changed her life so dramatically.

Sau, a resident of Me Linh District in Vinh Phuc Province, is one of the success stories of a microcredit fund established about twelve years ago.

At the time, Sau and her husband, who had no stable job, earned a meagre living from farming. Life was harder since they had three children to care for. But things began to turn around for them when they heard about the Affection Fund, a programme begun in 1992 by the Viet Nam Women’s Union, which makes small loans to rural women to help them set up household businesses.

Microcredit helps fishermen increase hauls

by Minh Huong

HA NOI — Creditors aren’t paying enough attention to poor fishermen and farmers in coastal areas, said delegates at a Ha Noi workshop on micro loans and sustainable living in coastal regions.

Officials look to microcredits to buoy poor coastal regions

HA NOI — The Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) hosts a national workshop on ‘Microcredit and Sustainable Livelihoods for Coastal Communities’ in the capital city today .

The workshop will share recent research findings and further evaluate the need for microfinance in the communities of the two coastal provinces of Khanh Hoa and Nam Dinh.