Vietnam's central bank has approved a bank to act as a bridge for financial arrangements with local coffee exporters, paving the way for trading directly on London's robusta coffee futures.
"Techcombank will meet with the (coffee) association and several businesses to work out details of the pilot programme," Van Thanh Huy, chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said on Monday.
He was referring to the semi-private Hanoi-based Technological and Commercial Bank (www.techcombank.com.vn), which state media said would participate in the year-long trial by acting as an agent for a foreign bank to help local coffee exporters open accounts as security to trade in London.