On December 1, 2020, under the authorization of the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh headed the SBV delegation at the virtual 40th Meeting of the Board of Governors (BOG) of the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN).
Overview of the Meeting in Hanoi
At the Meeting, the SEACEN Research and Training Centre (SEACEN Centre) reported to the Central Bank Governors on the implementation results of the SEACEN Center's Strategic Plan in 2020-2022, which includes core activities in the medium-term to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and the report on the implementation of SEACEN's program of activities in 2020, as well as other related matters. The Governors expressed high evaluation for the SEACEN Centre's efforts and performance in 2020 under the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the BOG also adopted the recommendations made by the SEACEN Executive Committee (EXCO) related to the programs of training, research, workshops, seminars, budget and a number of SEACEN Centre's administrative matters for the fiscal year 2021.
In his remarks, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh informed the Central Bank Governors about the appointment of H.E. Madam Nguyen Thi Hong as SBV Governor, and expressed his high evaluation for SEACEN's online training activities in the past year. The SBV Deputy Governor recommended that SEACEN Centre continue to focus on evaluating the performance of the online courses and adapting the contents to suit the requirements and the actual circumstances; developing a list of courses in priority order based on their necessity, ensuring flexibility in implementing the courses in 2021. In the field of research, the SBV supports the newly arising research topics and contents of SEACEN in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as analysing the performance of the financial market interventions in the member economies in response to COVID-19, or post-COVID “exit” policies for the member countries. The SBV also expressed high evaluation for the researches and the knowledge sharing activities on finance digitization, e.g. developing a national digital banking strategy; creating the necessary legal and institutional frameworks, etc. Concerning the SEACEN Centre's governance, the SBV believed that the legalization of the decision-making hierarchy as well as the recruitment of the key positions in the operational risk management will help SEACEN to operate more efficiently. Regarding the budget matters, the SBV encouraged SEACEN to utilize the approved budget in the most effective and reasonable manner, especially in light of persisting challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photos of the delegates at the virtual Meeting (screenshot)
In addition, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh expressed his gratitude to the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (Brunei Monetary Authority) and the SEACEN Centre for having successfully organized this year's virtual BOG Meeting. As SEACEN Chair and the host of the BOG Meeting in 2022, the SBV is committed to working closely with all the members so that the SEACEN Centre can achieve greater achievements. The SBV Deputy Governor also hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would soon be controlled, and Vietnam may welcome all Central Bank Governors of the SEACEN member countries and other delegates to Vietnam for the next BOG Meeting.
On the sidelines of the 40th SEACEN BOG Meeting, Deputy Governor Chen Yulu of the People's Bank of China made a presentation sharing China's experience on "Opportunities and challenges in applying digital currency of the People's Bank of China”.
VA