On August 5, 2019, the bilateral meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) was organized at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). The meeting was attended by SBV Governor Le Minh Hung, BoT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob and representatives from the two central banks.
At the meeting, all attendants spoke highly of the bilateral cooperation between the two central banks, and shared that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the SBV and the BoT signed in 2006 (as updated in 2017), the MoU on the exchange of information on inspection and supervision (signed in 2010) and the MoU on the exchange of information for prevention and combating of money laundering (signed in 2013) have created neccessary frameworks for the formulation and development of the comprehensive cooperation between the two central banks.
SBV Governor Le Minh Hung speaks at the meeting
During the implementation of these MoUs, the two sides have conducted many cooperative activities such as information sharings, study tours and enhancement of capabilities in specialized operations. In the field of banking supervision and inspection, the information exchange has been done smoothly on a case-by-case basis. The two central banks have regularly exchanged information, cooperated and supported each other within the frameworks of the Joint Committee meetings between the two Governments on bilateral cooperation. Regarding the multilateral cooperation, the two central banks have coordinated closely and supported each other in the implementation of the ASEAN+3 cooperative initiatives.
About the sponsorships, payments, money transfers between the banks of both sides, through a network of about 230 correspondent bank agents, payment transactions and money transfers between enterprises and investors of the two countries have been conducted conveniently and smoothly.
About cross-border presence of the credit institutions of the two countries, there are currently three branches and two representative offices of Thai credit institutions in Vietnam. In general, these branches and representative offices have been operating stably in compliance with Vietnam’s applicable laws, contributing to the development of Vietnam’s banking sector and the economic relations between Vietnam and Thailand.
Moreover, the attendants exchanged their views about the macro economic situations of the countries, the region and the world, as well as the impacts on the objectives and orientations of the monetary policy management. They also pointed out the advantages, challenges and outlooks for 2019-2020. In addition, the two sides exchanged experience in restructuring the credit institution systems in collaboration with resolving non-performing loans (NPL) and the renovation of banking supervision and inspection; the trends and solutions for non-cash payment development; fintech and new payment models; enhancement of security for continuous operations of the payment systems; the implementation of the financial inclusion strategy, etc.
BoT Veerathai Santiprabhob speaks at the meeting
The attendants said that 2019 marked the success of Thailand as the Chair of the ASEAN monetary and finance cooperation process. The initiatives in this collaborative process have helped strengthen the regional policy dialogue and promote the performance of the ASEAN central banks, aiming to realize the common goal of ASEAN’s regional financial stability.
As co-chair of ASEAN+3, Thailand has successfully accomplished its mission to lead the countries to implement the cooperative substances of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization. In 2020, when Vietnam takes the ASEAN chairmanship, the SBV wishes to receive the handover from the BoT and the two central banks would continue to coordinate closely to further promote the effectiveness of the initiatives of the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 monetary and finance cooperation process.
The attendants agreed on a cooperation plan under the upcoming ASEAN 2020 framework, on the basis of the formulated topics of cooperation in the banking sector. This plan is expected to further promote the implementation of some priority cooperation topics in the banking sector to achieve the key outcomes of: Ensured macroeconomic stability, promoted financial inclusion, and enhanced banking integration, cyber security, ASEAN payment connectivity, sustainable financial development...
SBV Governor Le Minh Hung and BoT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob signthe MoUs
Right after the meeting, SBV Governor Le Minh Hung and BoT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob signed a MoU on the cooperation and exchange of information in the field of banking supervision and inspection, and another MoU on the cooperation in the field of financial innovation.
A snapshot of technical meeting
In the afternoon of the same day, the relevant entities of the two central banks had technical meetings on the bilateral cooperation and experience sharing; technical exchanges on sharing experience in the fields of payment, fintech, QR code…
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