On November 19, 2024, in Hanoi, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) organized the second meeting of the Taskforce for the National Steering Committee on Financial Inclusion (NSC). The meeting was attended by leaders and representatives from the relevant Ministries, agencies, members of the Taskforce and the Secretariat to the NSC.
Strengthening the coordination among the Ministries, agencies and local authorities
Delivering his opening speech at the meeting, Mr. To Huy Vu, Director General of the SBV International Cooperation Department, Deputy Head of the Taskforce, reiterated the key tasks and solutions throughout the implementation process of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy as stated in Notification Note No. 261/TB-VPCP dated August 23, 2022 on the conclusions of the NSC at its first meeting.
Having followed closely and implemented seriously the directions as stated in Decision No. 149/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated January 22, 2020 approving the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to 2025, Vision to 2030 (the Strategy), the SBV, the relevant Ministries and agencies have made continuous efforts and achieved significant results in the implementation process. Nevertheless, there have been many difficulties and challenges which require synchronized coordination and implementation from the central to the local levels in order to accomplish the established targets and objectives.
According to Mr. Pham Minh Tu, Deputy Director of the Banking Strategy Institute, the solutions established in the Strategy have covered all aspects of financial inclusion, including the improvement of the legal frameworks through the issuance of the new laws, such as the Law on Credit Institutions (revised), the Law on Identity, the Law on Electronic Transactions, etc.; the promotion of non-cash payment; the diversification of financial products and services; the financial education programs; and the protection of banking consumers,…
However, in order to effectively implement the established solutions, it is essential to promote the roles and responsibilities of the Ministries, agencies and local authorities in the policy-making, providing timely guidance and support to the people and enterprises in the implementation process.
Communication to raise awareness and promoting the people’s access to financial services.
According to Ms. Le Thi Thuy Sen, Director General of the SBV Communication Department, an objective of financial inclusion is to promote the access to and the use of financial services of the people and enterprises. Over the past time, through the communication programs aimed to raise the people’s awareness of financial inclusion, the SBV in general and the Communication Department in particular have been actively coordinating with the relevant Ministries, agencies and local authorities in implementing the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, the Scheme on promoting cashless payment, the Scheme on promoting the payment of public services through banks, etc. Some of the successful communication programs that have been launched include: “Smart Money”, “Tomorrow Bankers”, etc.
In the coming time, the Communication Department would continue to coordinate with the relevant entities and the media agencies to implement more robust communication programs, organize researches, workshops, dialogues on the topic of financial inclusion, with the focus on the priority population groups, which are the residents in the rural and remote areas, the low-income people, etc.., contributing to the general implementation process of the Strategy.
After having listened to the presentations delivered at the meeting, the participants continued to discuss about the limitations, obstacles and challenges, and came up with recommendations to overcome them in order to enhance performance of the NSC, and to realize the established objectives and targets of financial inclusion.
Based on the exchanges at the meeting, Mr. To Huy Vu acknowledged the feedbacks and recommendations of the participants with a view to overcoming the existing limitations and obstacles, and realizing the established objectives and targets of financial inclusion. Accordingly, Mr. To Huy Vu requested the members of the Taskforce to proactively and effectively fulfill their advisory and assistant roles to the NSC. In addition, Mr. Vu also requested the relevant Ministries and agencies to review and provide the relevant information for the SBV to consolidate and prepare the required report for the Preliminary Review Meeting on the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to 2025, Vision to 2030. It was further requested that all relevant agencies should promptly share and exchange information about any difficulties or obstacles during the implementation, and come up with specific recommendations for possible solutions to enhance the performance of the NSC.
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