On September 25-27, 2024, a Delegation from Vietnam headed by Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. On the sidelines of the event, the Delegation also had bilateral meetings with several partners.
In his speech delivered at the Meeting, Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son mentioned that the strategic orientations for the AIIB’s operations are fully aligned with the contexts and development priorities of the member countries, especially in dealing with the challenges that the members are facing in infrastructure development in general, as well as in sustainable development and responses to climate change. Regarding the plan for a mid-term review of the AIIB’s Development Strategy in 2025, the SBV Deputy Governor made a number of recommendations to the AIIB’s Board of Directors on how the AIIB could further develop and better serve its members. Vietnam supports the AIIB’s enhanced ambitions in its climate financing activities, and welcomes the AIIB’s support to the member countries in their energy transition processes. Beside that, the SBV Deputy Governor also recommended that the AIIB continue to develop new and innovative financial products that can flexibly and quickly meet the needs of its members, including in emergencies. Deputy Governor Son went on to emphasize that the AIIB should continue to focus on its core mission of developing infrastructure, especially the cross-border connectivity, green, climate-resilient and technology-based infrastructure. In the field of private capital mobilization, the AIIB should enhance its effectiveness and influence by actively engaging the private sector, and building feasible and client-centered investment portfolios. As a country heavily affected by climate change, natural disasters like storms and floods, the SBV Deputy Governor hoped that the AIIB would continue to pay attention to and support Vietnam in the energy transition process, and the implementation of climate-smart infrastructure projects, thereby helping Vietnam to quickly realize its commitment of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, etc.
Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son attends the Governors’ discussion session
On this occasion, the Vietnamese Delegation also had a meeting with Mr. Danny Alexander, Vice President for Policy and Strategy of the AIIB. At the meeting, Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son expressed his sincere thanks for Mr. Alexander’s contributions, both as Vice President and Secretary General of the AIIB in the past, and as Vice President for Policy and Strategy of the AIIB currently. The SBV Deputy Governor shared his impression and appreciation of the Vice President's central role in the formulation of flexible and responsive policies for the AIIB in the context of global challenges over the past time, helping the AIIB to achieve its development goals. For his part, the AIIB’s Vice President complimented Vietnam's for its impressive achievements in terms of maintaining a high economic growth and the macroeconomic stability. The AIIB’s Vice President also emphasized the importance of Vietnam as a founding member, and also a reliable and responsible partner of the AIIB in particular and of the international community in general. The AIIB is committed to continuing to closely coordinate with the relevant parties to further strengthen the cooperation between the AIIB and Vietnam in the field of infrastructure development, climate change response, as well as renewable energy development in the coming time.
In addition, the Vietnamese Delegation also had working sessions with the AIIB's functional departments to share and listen to the views on how to further promote the AIIB's activities in Vietnam.
Deputy Governor Doan Thai Son and Mr. Danny Alexander, Vice President for Policy and Strategy of the AIIB
On the sidelines of the Annual Meeting, the Vietnamese Delegation also had a bilateral meeting with the New Zealand Delegation. At the meeting, when talking about the relationship with New Zealand, the SBV Deputy Governor said that the SBV in particular, and the Government of Vietnam in general highly recognized the cooperation and exchanges between the two sides in education and training, finance and banking, macroeconomic policy advice, etc. The two sides agreed that the two countries have had close and effective cooperation within the framework of the ASEAN’s multilateral cooperation through the Free Trade Agreements. In the coming time, the SBV Deputy Governor expressed his hope that the two sides could continue to promote the cooperation activities through capacity building programs, policy dialogues, etc. in the areas of formulating strategic plans, building forecasting and macroeconomic models, financial policies and budget management, and assessing the implications of the policies on the investment environment, etc.
Le Hang