On 28-29 October 2025, a delegation from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) led by Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh, and joined by representatives from the International Cooperation Department, the Organisation and Personnel Department of the SBV, attended the 45th Meeting of the SEACEN Board of Governors and the 61st SEACEN High-Level Conference, held in Bali, Indonesia.
The event brought together governors and senior officials from the 19 central banks and monetary authorities of SEACEN member countries, partner central banks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), as well as scholars and researchers from universities and research institutes.
Overview of the Meeting
In his opening remarks at the 61st SEACEN High-Level Conference themed “Asian Financial Integration in the Context of Geo-economic Shifts: Unlocking Growth and Innovation”, Governor Perry Warjiyo of Bank Indonesia emphasised the importance of advancing financial integration and strengthening regional policy coordination to respond more effectively to global shocks. He highlighted the context of slower global growth, rising financial risks from high public debts in developed countries, hiking interest rates causing pressure on the emerging economies, growing leverage in the non-bank sector, and the emergence of stablecoins. Governor Warjiyo outlined five priority directions for the coming period: (i) establish an Integrated Policy Framework, flexibly combining monetary policy, exchange-rate intervention, capital-flow management, and macro-prudential measures; (ii) enhance financial stability and supervision of the non-bank sector, promote the development of domestic financial markets and regional linkages; (iii) accelerate digital-payment connectivity and the central-bank digital-currency (CBDC) cooperation; (iv) revisit the central-bank independence model while ensuring effective coordination with the fiscal policy; and (v) strengthen capacity building to position SEACEN as the region’s centre of excellence for central banking research and training.
Delegates pose for a commemorative photo at the 61st SEACEN High-Level Conference
Discussions during the Conference focused on three main themes: (i) Asian financial integration, through expanding and deepening capital markets, strengthening regional safety nets, and enhancing macro-financial supervision — emphasising the role of finance in supporting the green and digital transitions, and exploring ways SEACEN member central banks can foster cooperation, sustainable investment, and long-term stability; (ii) Promoting economic integration through digital-payment connectivity, focusing on the role of digital payments in strengthening the regional integration by reducing transaction costs, facilitating local-currency use, and advancing financial inclusion — while addressing challenges such as the digital infrastructure gaps, persistent U.S. dollar dependence, regulatory harmonisation, and strengthening the digital capabilities in the member countries; and (iii) advancing sustainable finance, focusing on mobilising capital for Asia’s green transition, including renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, highlighting the role of the central banks in promoting green-finance instruments such as GSS+ bonds, and proposing solutions to remove policy barriers and attract private investment.
The participants noted that, following recent regional and global financial crises, Asia has made significant progress in strengthening macro-prudential supervision, developing financial safety-nets, and expanding domestic-currency capital markets. Regional mechanisms such as the CMIM and AMRO have played vital roles in fostering resilience and cooperation. Nevertheless, SEACEN members and the Seminar’s panelists shared the view that financial integration currently faces significant challenges, including limited safety-net capacity, continued U.S. dollar dependence, market fragmentation, and underdeveloped risk-mitigation tools. With growing investment needs for green transition and digital infrastructure, fintech, CBDCs, and cross-border payments are expected to become new drivers of regional connectivity, supporting savings mobilisation and advancing financial inclusion.
The participants also emphasised that the twin forces of geopolitics and technological changes are intensifying global financial fragmentation, particularly through the rise of stablecoins and national digital-currency initiatives. This underscores the urgent need for broader policy coordination across the region to ensure interoperability, harmonised standards, and financial stability.
Regarding cross-border payments, a key driver of financial integration and global growth, speakers at the Seminar highlighted that fast-payment systems are rapidly developing worldwide, expanding financial access and inclusion in the digital economy. However, they also noted that the recent decline in traditional correspondent banking relationships — due to high compliance costs and complex control processes — has weakened international financial connectivity, especially for emerging and developing economies. In this regard, BIS initiatives such as Project Agorá and common-data-standard frameworks were cited as promising pathways to improve interoperability, reduce transaction costs and risks, and bridge market fragmentation — thereby supporting trade flows, investment, and sustainable growth. The participants underscored that seamless, secure, and reliable cross-border payments are not only a technical necessity but also a strategic pillar for advancing global financial integration, enhancing supply-chain efficiency, and generating new momentum for regional and global economic growth.
In addition, the participants reaffirmed the urgent need to advance sustainable finance to support the region’s green transition. The ASEAN Green Map was introduced as a unified framework to guide the development of a green finance ecosystem, enhance coordination among the banking, capital-market, and insurance sectors, and promote the harmonisation of standards through an ASEAN Taxonomy. The key objective is to mobilise resources for a just transition, strengthen ASEAN’s leadership in climate action, and sustain the region’s development momentum. The Seminar reached a consensus on harmonising the green taxonomies across the member countries, working towards a common regional standard to promote and scale up sustainable finance.
Heads of delegations pose for a commemorative photo at the 45th SEACEN Board of Governors’ Meeting
At the 45th SEACEN Board of Governors’ Meeting, SEACEN governors adopted the Report of the 44th Board of Governors’ Meeting, hosted by the Bank of Korea on 7 December 2024, and reviewed the implementation of SEACEN’s work plan since that Meeting. Within the framework of this year’s Meeting, the governors of SEACEN member central banks also adopted the revised 2026 Work Plan, and the 2026 Budget Proposal of SEACEN.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh speaks at the 45th SEACEN Board of Governors’ Meeting
In his remarks, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh commended SEACEN and its Task Force for their efforts in drafting SEACEN’s 2026-2030 Medium-Term Strategic Plan, and reaffirmed the SBV’s full support for the Plan. He noted that the Strategic Plan provides a timely and forward-looking framework to guide SEACEN’s transformation amid profound global change. Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh also highlighted the importance of ensuring feasibility, clear prioritisation, effective resource allocation, and measurable outcomes in the Strategy’s implementation.
Deputy Governor Canh also encouraged SEACEN to strengthen the linkages between research, policy dialogue, and practical training, especially in emerging areas such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), cyber-security, data governance, cross-border payment connectivity, and climate-related financial risk management. At the same time, he recommended that SEACEN enhance coordination and consult closely with the member central banks to ensure the Plan reflects shared priorities, and supports SEACEN’s development into a modern, sustainable, and forward-looking centre of excellence, nurturing the next generation of central bank leaders in the region.
Vietnam reaffirmed its commitment to accompany SEACEN in implementing the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, actively participating in training, research and technical cooperation activities, and contributing to strengthening SEACEN’s role as the region’s leading centre for central banking training, research and knowledge exchange.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh meets with Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo on the sidelines of the Meeting
On the sidelines of the event, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh also held bilateral talks with leaders of other central banks to exchange views on monetary policy orientations and banking sector supervision. In all of those discussions, Deputy Governor Canh always affirmed Vietnam’s desire to deepen substantive and effective cooperation with other SEACEN member central banks — both bilaterally and within the SEACEN framework.
The Conference concluded with the agreement that Lao P.D.R. would assume the SEACEN Chairmanship in 2026.
HM