On July 27, 2018, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh had a meeting with a Mission of the World Bank (WB) on the review findings of the implementation progress and results of the activities approved in the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) of the Financial Inclusion Support Framework (FISF) for Vietnam. The two sides also discussed about the assistance provided by the WB/IFC to the SBV in the field of payment and the formulation of the terms of references (TOR) for determining the scope of study on the overall infrastructure of the payment system in Vietnam, as well as the support for the SBV to develop the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).
Also attending the meeting were representatives from the SBV’s International Cooperation Department, the Payment Department, the Monetary Forecasting and Statistics Department, the Communication Department, the Human Resources Department, the Banking Supervision Agency, the Banking Strategy Institute and the Information Technology Department. On the WB’s side, there were Mr. Trieu Quoc Viet, Financial Sector Specialist and Head of the WB Mission and other specialists in the fields of finance, payment, financial inclusion, the WB’s FISF Coordinator, and the WB’s expert group in Vietnam.
Speaking at the meeting, the WB’s specialists strongly commended the progress that Vietnam has achieved in the process of developing the NFIS.
The WB expected the Deputy Governor to direct the consultations within SBV entities internally, and with external agencies in order to reach a consensus among the parties and ensure the progress of submission of the draft Strategy to the Prime Minister within 2018. According to the WB, the SBV's early establishment of coordination mechanism in the process of developing the NFIS will facilitate the implementation of the Strategy. At the same time, the WB recommended Vietnam to speed up its implementation of the activities with regard to financial consumer protection and to appoint a leading unit for these activities to promote the implementation of the actions which will be outlined in the draft Strategy.
About the field of payment, the Mission reported to the Deputy Governor the contents which were discussed with the Payment Department and other relevant agencies with a view to promoting cooperation activities between the SBV and the WB/IFC under the FISF. Besides, the Mission also made recommendations on possible support for the implementation of the Scheme on Non-Cash Payment, especially the legal documents for the implementation of the Automated Clearing House (ATH) network for the retail payment transactions.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh sincerely thanked and highly appreciated the WB’s support for the development of Vietnam's payment system, especially for the SBV’s formulation of the payment system development strategy. He also shared with the WB some issues related to the regulations on payment in the context that Vietnam has not yet had a specific law on payments.
About the promotion of financial inclusion, the Deputy Governor said that, over the past time, the SBV has actively coordinated with the WB and the related parties to implement the contents of the WB's FISF. Up to now, the SBV has obtained some initial progresses as an important foundation for promoting financial inclusion. He expressed his beliefs that the mechanism for financial inclusion as proposed by the WB will be established in the coming time, and will help accelerate the implementation of financial inclusion in Vietnam. In addition, he also said that financial education and financial consumer protection are currently among the key solutions of the Strategy. That reflects the SBV's awareness of the importance and meaning of these substances in the promotion of financial inclusion.
The Deputy Governor acknowledged and appreciated the recommendations and comments of the WB Mission. He said that the SBV would make all effort to implement the solutions to remove the current difficulties and limitations, especially to improve the legal framework for payment activities. He expressed his hopes that the WB would continue to support the SBV for improving the capacity and capabilities of the SBV’s staff, and share the experience and practices in implementing the payment activities in other countries, contributing to the enhancement of the efficiency of banking operations and the successful implementation of the Financial Inclusion Strategy in Vietnam.
Le Hang