Dragon Capital launches clean fund

[kieudiemvje]

Fund management company Dragon Capital yesterday launched the first Asian regional fund that will also invest in Viet Nam's renewable energy, water, and waste-management sectors.
Dominic Scriven, CEO of Dragon Capital, said the Clean Development Fund "will deliver solid financial returns and positive environmental and social impacts in a set of developing countries in the Mekong and Brahmaputra (Major rivers in Central and South Asia) regions."
Dragon Capital will manage the fund which has attracted commitments of US$45 million in the first phase of fund-raising.
"We have been encouraged to see the interest generated by this unique fund," Scriven said.
"We have been able to attract substantial contributions from leading financial institutions such as FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company), Asian Development Bank, and Finnfund."
It is the biggest corpus raised by any fund in Viet Nam this year, he said, adding he expected it to grow to $100m following a second phase next year.
The fund's portfolio will cover projects in renewable energy, energy saving, water conservation, and waste recycling in Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.
The Dragon Capital Group, established in 1994, started investing in Viet Nam from an initial base of $16m. By June 2010 the funds under its management had risen to $1.1 billion.
The Company is owned 85 per cent by the management and staff, with the rest being held by the International Finance Corporation – the World Bank's private sector arm – and the French Government's development finance entity, Proparco.