About Us

Central Vietnam still faces significant challenges to foster sustainable human development. Poverty and a rapidly charging economy make life a daily struggle for many in this region. In addition, old Confucian traditions which downplay or flatly denounce women as equals make these modern dilemmas even worse for Vietnamese females.

shown here: with Chairman of FESR at Queen hotel

With these challenges in mind, FESR was founded in 2000 to begin addressing issues of economic development and gender equality in Hue City and its surrounding rural areas. Using successful micro-financing operations as a template, FESR began giving small loans (100 - 600 USD) to the impoverished. Unlike other micro credit operations, FESR maintains a low interest rate, low collateral option to those who may have difficulty obtaining resources.

FESR loan recipients have used their loans to, among other things, expand businesses, invest in new fruit trees and vegetables, and buy livestock. These simple projects are able to increase the standard of living for many families in our region. We have watched our program expand to include now over 14,000 families with a repayment rate on our loans of more than 98 percent.