On March 13th, 2018, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong had a meeting with the delegation of Felix Education Group in Vietnam (Felix Vietnam) and MoneyTree Financial Education Organization (MoneyTree)
The meeting was attended by the representatives of the SBV’s International Cooperation Department and Communications Department. The Delegation was led by Mr. Yew Wan Kup, Director of Felix Education Group in Vietnam and Mr. Brandon Liew, Chief Marketing Officer, MoneyTree Asia Pacific.
At the reception, Mr. Yew Wan Kup, Director of Felix Vietnam thanked SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong for taking the time to receive the Delegation. Mr. Yew Wan Kup shared that MoneyTree is an educational institution focusing on financial management and located in Singapore, and has pioneered in the field of personal financial management education for students and children aged 6-17 with key activities including: (i) providing knowledge, (ii) building habits through experience, and (iii) developing a system for assessing the financial management capabilities of students, through the methods of simplified lessons, learning through playing, and motivational learning with the expectation that financial education would become a formal subject at all school levels just like Maths, Science and Language. The organization now has representative offices in many Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
“After nearly 10 years of operation, MoneyTree has generated trust among parents by providing certificates to students; been widely accepted by students and parents and supported by government agencies. In Vietnam, MoneyTree and Felix are in the process of approaching the Ministry of Education and Training, the Youth Union and some schools at different levels, commercial banks with a view to seeking opportunities for cooperation. Since the SBV is the lead agency for the implementation of Financial Inclusion in Vietnam, in which Financial Education is a key pillar of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, MoneyTree and Felix Vietnam would like to talk with the SBV about opportunities for development and cooperation in this area.” Mr. Yew Wan Kup emphasized.
A snapshot of the meeting
In her feedback, the SBV Deputy Governor shared that Vietnam has been implementing a number of financial education programs and plans with the support of international organizations, such as: (i) The World Bank (WB) is supporting the Ministry of Education and Training to integrate financial contents into the curricula for Mathematics, Citizenship education, Experiential education (from Elementary to High school); (ii) The SBV and OTP Fay Andras Foundation (Hungary) are working on a cooperation arrangement to support the SBV in carrying out financial education activities in Vietnam, including training courses, experience-sharing, advising the SBV on the development of training centers, television programs...; (iii) the Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation of Germany (SBFIC) also held talks with the SBV on the possibilities of cooperation between the two sides, in which financial education is also the strength of SBFIC and a potential area for cooperation between the SBV and the SBFIC in the coming time.
In addition, with the directions of the SBV Board of Management, the Communications Department recently launched the TV game-show "Smart Money" and reality program "Smartkids" on VTV1 and VTV3 channels of Vietnam Television. After about 4 months of broadcasting, these programs are among those that have received the most positive feedbacks from the viewers. The number of viewers watching television during this hour has increased significantly compared to the time before the programs. At present, the International Cooperation Department is coordinating with the Communications Department to develop a plan for financial education in 2018, to serve as the basis for mobilizing support from the international sponsors and partners.
In the context that the SBV is trying to mobilize support from the international community for the implementation of Financial Inclusion, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong highly appreciated the experience and activities of MoneyTree and Felix on financial education, which are in line with Vietnam's current orientations in improving the people's knowledge of finance and banking.
VA