On April 5, 2024, in Luang Prabang, the Lao P.D.R., Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended the 20th ASEAN Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (ACGM) and the 11th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM). These are the two most important annual events within the framework of financial and monetary cooperation in ASEAN, within a series of high-level events for ASEAN in 2024 hosted by the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. (BOL) and Lao Ministry of Finance.
Leaders of the ASEAN Central Banks and Ministries of Finance at the AFMGM
Participating in the meeting, there were senior leaders from the Central Banks, the Monetary Authorities, the Ministries of Finance of 10 ASEAN member states, representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat, representatives of international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).
The theme for the ASEAN cooperation in 2024
In its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024, the Lao P.D.R. has chosen the theme of: “ASEAN – Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience”, focusing on intensifying the cooperation among the ASEAN member states in the pillars of: enhancing the infrastructure connectivity; narrowing the development gaps; promoting more extensively and intensively the economic integration and the people-to-people exchanges; strengthening the cooperation between ASEAN and the external partners; and upholding the central role of ASEAN in the changing regional structure.
Speaking at the Meeting, Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung expressed his strong support for the theme and the priorities selected by the Lao P.D.R. for her ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024, and said that they would be important orientations to promote a cohesive, inclusive and sustainable ASEAN in the context of a constantly changing global economy.
The ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025
At the Meeting, the participants acknowledged the implementation progress of the final review of the AEC Blueprint 2025, in preparation for the AEC Vision after 2025, and the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, with the goal of building a single and prosperous market, with a highly skilled labor force, driven by productivity and innovation towards an inclusive and sustainable growth.
The progress of the ASEAN finance and banking integration
In his speech, Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung applauded the joint efforts of the Central Banks and the Ministries of Finance of all ASEAN member states in the realization of the goals as stated in the AEC Blueprint 2025, and their commitments to contributing further to the ASEAN finance and banking integration process. The SBV Deputy Governor highly complimented the efforts of the working committees in fulfilling most of the cooperation initiatives/activities in 2023 with significant results.
On financial inclusion, the ASEAN Working Committee on Financial Inclusion has successfully leveraged the technological advantages to realize the goal of promoting financial inclusion through enhancing the cooperation with the partners in the study on the Digital ID, and developing a policy toolkit for promoting the use of digital payment and digital finance access for small and medium-sized enterprises.
On the regional payment connectivity, the ASEAN Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems has performed successfully its role as a platform for sharing information, discussing initiatives to promote the payment connectivity in the region, and pioneering cross-border payment connections, contributing to realize the ASEAN vision on payment connectivity. At the Meeting, the Deputy Governor emphasized the importance of a careful assessment of the risks arising during the payment connection process in the context that technological development may come along with new risks and challenges, such as cybersecurity or financial fraud risks.
Regarding the financial services liberalization, ASEAN has made significant progress in financial services liberalization by negotiating and concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with several partners, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, China, etc., thereby contributing to supporting the trade of goods and services, and the connectivity among the economies in the region.
Regarding the capital account liberalization, the ASEAN Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization has enhanced the policy dialogues and information sharing on the trends, the statistics and the capital flow management measures among the ASEAN member states. The SBV Deputy Governor suggested that the Working Committee continues to monitor the potential risks with the trends of the capital flows in the region. ASEAN is considered to be an attractive destination for foreign investment, making it susceptible to external risks. In particular, the SBV Deputy Governor welcomed the establishment of a Task Force to develop a framework for the Local Currency Transactions (LCT), contributing to promoting the macroeconomic stability and the economic resilience in the region against external shocks, thereby strengthening the central role of ASEAN.
Senior leaders of the ASEAN Central Banks and Ministries of Finance attend the Meeting in Luang Prabang, the Lao P.D.R.
Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dung highly complimented Bank Indonesia’s initiative on restructuring, rearranging and revising the functions and mandates of the banking Working Committees to catch up with new developments in the region and around the world.
Governor Bounleua Sinxayvoravong of the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. and Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung of the SBV take a photo together
Also within the framework of the Meeting, Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung had a courtesy meeting with Governor Bounleua Sinxayvoravong of the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. (BOL). At the meeting, Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dzung expressed the SBV’s strong support for the priorities of the BOL in the ASEAN Chairmanship 2024, affirming that the SBV would always accompany and share with the BOL in the implementation of these priorities, as well as in the banking cooperation activities between the two central banks.
The 12th ASEAN Central Bank Governors’ and Finance Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Malaysia in 2025.
Translated by Hai Yen