On April 8, 2021, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh chaired a virtual dialogue between the SBV and the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC).
Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh speaks at the Dialogue
The dialogue focused on discussing the objectives, policies and recovery plans of Vietnam’s economy in 2021, in the context of havingthat the COVID-19 situation has beenunder controlled; how to enhance the cooperation between the SBV and the private sector. The two sides also discussed about the current topics of mutual interest, including the digitization process, cyber security, financial inclusion, the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) financial principles, and other issues.
Also attending the seminar, there was Mr. Marc Mealy, Senior Vice President of the US-ABC; leaders of the SBV Departments; representatives from the US-ABC member companies such as: Citibank, Visa, Amazon, Apple Inc., J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, American Express, etc.
At the dialogue, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh shared about the SBV's perspectives in managing the monetary policy, digital payment development, digital banking transformation, as well as promotion of financial inclusion. According to the Deputy Governor, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the world economy in general and the ASEAN economy in particular. Over the past time, the Government of Vietnam has been consistent in pursuing the perspective of accelerating the socio-economic development in order to enhance the foundation and improve the resilience and adaptability of the economy. Implementing that perspective, the SBV has been proactively managing the monetary policy instruments in a flexible and harmonized manner, in coordination with the fiscal policy in order to maintain the stability of the markets and to control the inflation; managing the key interest rates in line with the macro balances and the market developments; regulating the credit flows in a prudent and efficient manner, maintaining the stability of the exchange rates and the forex market, and thereby contributing to the economic growth recovery.
Virtual dialogue between the SBV and the US-ABC
The Senior Vice President of the US-ABC expressed high appreciation for Vietnam's efforts to promote the bilateral cooperation over the past time. He also mentioned his impression with the measures taken by Vietnam to accelerate the post-pandemic recovery. The representatives from different member companies of the US-ABC also pledged to invest more and support the Government of Vietnam in the process of economic recovery and development. Recently, the US-ABC Financial Service Committee had prepared a report focusing on: (i) Digital Identification in ASEAN; (ii) ESG Financial Principles in ASEAN; (iii) ASEAN digital economy and financial data; (iv) Financial Inclusion in ASEAN; and (v) Insurance for Digital Economy and Post-Disaster Recovery in ASEAN. The report's recommendations aim to achieve the objectives of sustainable and digital growth, and financial inclusion in the region.
In his conclusion at the dialogue, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh highly appreciated the cooperation between the US business community and Vietnamese authorities in monitoring and assessing the economic situations in the region, and in making policy recommendations for Vietnam. The SBV is committed to continuing to coordinate with the US-ABC in organizing further meetings, exchanges of information and practical experiences and difficulties in engaging the private sector, in order to promote the bilateral cooperation and to support Vietnam and the SBV in the process of economic recovery. The SBV Deputy Governor also wished that the US-ABC would continue to enhance the bilateral cooperation and dialogues in order to come up with and accelerate the cooperation initiatives, especially in the financial and banking sector, contributing to the economic development in the region as well as strengthening the voice and visibility of the US-ABC in the region.
Le Hang