HÀ NỘI — The General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam on May 22 launched a programme to rate the credibility of agricultural businesses and entrepreneurs through the Vietnam Agriculture Reputation Index (VARI), which aims to improve access to finance for the farming sector.

The programme was introduced during a forum on unlocking capital flows for agriculture through safer and more sustainable credit solutions.

VARI was designed to assess the credibility of agricultural businesses and entrepreneurs through scientific, objective and transparent criteria.

The programme aims to establish a reference system on corporate reputation to help consumers, farmers, investors and business partners identify companies operating responsibly and sustainably.

Hồ Xuân Hùng, president of the General Council of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, said the initiative comes as the agricultural sector continues to face problems linked to limited transparency, low-quality products and breaches of commercial commitments in some areas.

The credibility criteria are expected to help improve business ethics standards, promote fair competition and strengthen market confidence, Hùng said.

VARI is also expected to serve as a bridge between businesses, investors, financial institutions and domestic and foreign partners, helping reputable enterprises gain easier access to capital, markets and cooperation opportunities.

The launch of VARI and its online platform at the address www.vari.org.vn was expected not only to create a new promotional channel for agricultural businesses but also to help build a more transparent and equitable business environment while enhancing the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural enterprises in global value chains.

Transparency needed

Hùng said many businesses, cooperatives and farmers continued to struggle to obtain loans due to limited collateral, fragmented production models and weak financial management capacity, while risks from natural disasters and disease outbreaks were rising.

In particular, sectors such as green agriculture, organic farming, circular economy models and high-tech agriculture often require large amounts of capital with long investment periods and slow returns, he said.

In addition, agricultural exporters are also facing growing risks in international trade transactions, including delayed payments, withheld shipments and suspected commercial fraud involving foreign partners.

Hùng said commercial banks should expand their role beyond providing loans to include support for international payments, credit guarantees, partner verification and risk prevention.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền, chairwoman of the Institute of International Economics and Law, said Việt Nam should develop a domestic ESG framework to standardise and simplify green credit approval procedures.

The ESG assessment system will be tailored specifically for agriculture and align with international green standards while remaining simple enough for cooperatives and large-scale farmers to adopt.

She said indicators should be quantified through technical criteria such as water savings and carbon dioxide emission reductions to provide banks with a basis for offering preferential green credit packages while reducing pressure on borrowers to provide traditional collateral.

She also said global financing for green projects remained abundant and international funds were actively seeking investment opportunities in Southeast Asia, but investors increasingly required transparent environmental and social impact data.

She urged agricultural businesses to accelerate digital transformation and publish transparent sustainability reports to attract green investment and international financing while reducing dependence on traditional bank loans.

Expanding green finance and developing risk-sharing mechanisms among the State, banks and businesses, as well as strengthening transparency and corporate credibility, would become increasingly important for future access to capital.

Experts also called for simplified loan procedures, broader credit guarantee mechanisms and the development of a comprehensive agricultural financial ecosystem covering bank loans, agricultural insurance, investment funds and digital finance. — VNS