The APEC 2017 Finance Ministers’ Meeting was held in Hoi An, Quang Nam province on October 21, 2017. The Meeting was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and around 300 domestic and international delegates, including finance ministers, leaders of central banks of 21 APEC economies and representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Representatives from Vietnam delegation were Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, Minister Finance, Mr. Tran Xuan Ha, Deputy Minister of Finance, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
Speaking at the Meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said that, on the basis of consultancy from APEC economies and international partners, Vietnam, right from end of 2016, made recommendations on financial inclusion in 2017 focusing on sustainable development of rural and agriculture, including (i) identifying the scope of financial inclusion in accordance with conditions and features of each APEC economy; (ii) Digital finance and application of new technology; (iii) Financial literacy and customer protection; (iv) Macro insurance in developing member economies; (v) Policies on rural and agricultural development against challenges; and (vi) Developing infrastructure for finance.
Besides, the SBV Deputy Governor had a meeting with Mr. Mitsuhiro Fukusawa, IMF Deputy Managing Director.
At this meeting, Mr. Mitsuhiro Fukusawa congratulated Vietnam on successfully hosting APEC 2017 Finance Ministers’ Meeting, and gave positive assessment of Vietnam’s economic situations such as economic growth at high level, inflation curbing at low level and stable money and forex markets. He also said that the IMF acknowledged the SBV’s effort to modernize monetary policy framework and accelerate NPL resolution and the restructuring of the banking sector. He asserted the IMF would further support the SBV in the coming time, especially for financial inclusion.
Exchanging with Mr. Mitsuhiro Fukusawa, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong shared her views on financial inclusion. She stressed that the SBV, as the leading entity for financial inclusion in Vietnam, have made recommendations on APEC cooperation activities concerning with financial inclusion in Vietnam towards sustainable development of rural and agriculture, thereby contributing to obtaining the objective of inclusive growth. Moreover, the SBV Deputy Governor expressed her sincere thanks to the IMF for its support, training programs and policy consultancy for Vietnam.
Le Hang