'Celebrity' Tran Hung Huy opens green credit opportunities for green startups

At the talk show Building a brand from the starting point, 'banker' Tran Hung Huy - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), had a short conversation with young start-ups about brand building as well as opportunities to access green credit.

'Người nổi tiếng' Trần Hùng Huy mở cơ hội tín dụng xanh cho các start-up xanh - Ảnh 1. — Mr. Tran Hung Huy - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) shares with start-ups - Photo: QUANG DINH

Answering the question of Bui Phuong Thao - sustainability director of AirX Carbon - top 20 typical startups of Tuoi Tre Start-up Award 2024 about how to build personal brand as well as business brand, Mr. Huy said that personal brand cannot be separated from business brand.

Green credit for green start-ups

"You may be the founder and leader of a company, but building a personal brand is part of the corporate brand. Every business, especially long-standing businesses, will go through many generations of leaders.

The most important thing is to determine the core values of the business and the founder will be the one to spread those values," Mr. Huy shared.

'Người nổi tiếng' Trần Hùng Huy mở cơ hội tín dụng xanh cho các start-up xanh - Ảnh 2. — Ms. Nguyen Thuy Linh Cat - founder of Catsa and Catci brands, shares her startup story at the talk show Building a brand from scratch with her own experience of "smashing and rebuilding" - Photo: QUANG DINH

However, as a business leader who went viral on social media through a clip of his performance at the gala celebrating ACB's 30th anniversary, Mr. Huy humorously talked about his situation: "Being a banker for 20 years, no one knows. Dipping your toes into the national showbiz is great."

He believes that if young people leading businesses are also KOLs in a certain field, it is completely fine to take advantage of this advantage, there is no need to be too separate and can use it as a lever to bring products to many people.

At the same time, according to him, programs like Tuoi Tre Start-up Award are a great opportunity for young start-ups to spread their stories and introduce their images.

"Honestly, before joining this program, I did not know about AirX Carbon. But from this competition, knowing about your pallet products from agricultural waste, I thought about whether I could use this product for ACB or connect you to partners. This can be considered a very effective marketing opportunity for young startups like AirX Carbon," said Mr. Huy.

'Người nổi tiếng' Trần Hùng Huy mở cơ hội tín dụng xanh cho các start-up xanh - Ảnh 3. — Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Yen and her two children Minh Thanh and Vinh Nghi participated in the waste classification experience activity at CP GROUP's exhibition booth - Photo: BE HIEU

Mr. Huy was very impressed when many start-ups in this competition not only thought about selling products domestically but also brought their products to many countries from the very beginning.

Answering the question of whether start-ups have the opportunity to access capital sources for development goals and market expansion, Mr. Tran Hung Huy said that green credit is currently a field that ACB is promoting and creating many opportunities for green businesses.

"If in 2023, we only disbursed less than 100 billion for the green credit package, from the beginning of 2024 until now, we have disbursed nearly 1,500 billion and in the future, we will push the green credit package to a scale of 3,000-5,000 billion.

ACB is working with many international investment funds - those who are interested and want to work with businesses in the field of sustainable development.

However, the remaining story is how young businesses can meet the conditions of these funds, so that together with ACB, they can take advantage of these funds," Mr. Huy added.

Always ready for any opportunity

Speaking more about the story of how startups are always ready to seize any small opportunity, Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy - General Director of Pencil Group and General Director of Vietnam Legacy Branding Center, said that startups must have a short brand story to introduce themselves as quickly as possible.

"For example, today's program can also be considered an opportunity for you to meet start-up funds, investors and retailers like Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thang - Deputy General Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op)

You can't say, "Mr. Thang, give me 30 minutes, but only a few dozen seconds to tell your story. To do this, we have to go back to the story of building a brand from the roots," said Mr. Nguyen Tien Huy.

Sharing at the talk show, Mr. Ngo Minh Hai - Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union - said that the most valuable assets that every young person has when starting a business are youth and passion, from which they have inspiration and opportunities to start a business.

'Người nổi tiếng' Trần Hùng Huy mở cơ hội tín dụng xanh cho các start-up xanh - Ảnh 4. — Mr. Ngo Minh Hai - Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union is a familiar face through 5 seasons of organizing the Tuoi Tre Start-up Award program - Photo: QUANG DINH

"As a companion, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union has a large ecosystem such as the Youth Startup Support Center - BSSC, Tuoi Tre newspaper to support young startups, helping them build and nurture their brands.

The group's activities are also an environment for self-training and experience accumulation from organizing and planning programs for young people such as Green Summer, Pink Vacation...", Mr. Hai commented.

Starting over with sustainable fashion thinking

Appearing on the talk show stage as a speaker, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Linh Cat - founder of the Catsa and Catci brands shared the story of a young person who had just "returned to the starting line", starting over after 13 years of starting a business with her first brand.

Cat said she just said goodbye to the old fashion brand Catsa to start a journey with the new brand Catci.

"The experiences shared by other speakers about the importance of defining a business's core values from the beginning really touched me because I am also a typical example of going back to the starting point, destroying and rebuilding.

That shows that the dozens of stores I had when I started Catsa are just short-term milestones. I have returned to the starting line with a new person, a new mindset about sustainable fashion, which is the trend and future of the world," Linh Cat shared.