On December 2, 2019 at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Governor Le Minh Hung had a meeting with Mr. Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other members of the ASEAN Secretariat. Also attending the meeting were representatives of a number of the SBV departments.
At the meeting, Governor Le Minh Hung welcomed the ASEAN Secretary-General and his colleagues to visit and work with the SBV. The SBV Governor also thanked the ASEAN Secretary-General in particular and the ASEAN Secretariat in general for having always accompanied and supported the Government of Vietnam in the process of ASEAN financial and banking cooperation in the recent years.
Since becoming a member of ASEAN, Vietnam has had opportunities to participate in the network of free trade agreements (FTAs), and the international organizations and global fora. By fully implementing the commitments under the framework of the FTAs, Vietnam has affirmed to create a fair and equal environment for the banking operations, domestic and foreign investors in Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam's position has been increasingly enhanced in the international community.
In recent years, the SBV, as a member of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), has been actively developing and implementing strategic measures and working plans in the fields that it is responsible for. Besides, Vietnam always seeks and encourages the participation of the private sector, the national banking associations in order to ensure an inclusive approach of these forces in the process of integration.
Governor Le Minh Hung speaks at the meeting
In 2020, Vietnam will assume the role of the ASEAN Chair. This is a very important year for Vietnam when Vietnam will finish the 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy from 2010 to 2020, the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan from 2016 to 2020; as well as develop new plans and strategies for socio-economic development in the coming time. Recognizing the significance of the strategic plans of ASEAN, Vietnam in general and the SBV in particular expects to mainstream the contents of policy activities, as well as quantitative objectives of the ASEAN cooperation into those documents.
ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi speaks at the meeting
At the meeting, sharing the preparation for the process of the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting, Governor Le Minh Hung mentioned that regarding the banking and finance, the SBV would coordinate closely with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to fulfill the role of the Chair and co-Chair of the Meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 (together with Japan). The SBV Governor said that the SBV and the MoF have finalized the Project on the ASEAN/ASEAN+3 Financial Cooperation and have been in the consultation with the sub-Committees under the ASEAN National Committee 2020. He requested the ASEAN Secretary-General and the ASEAN Secretariat to coordinate, appoint staff members to support the preparation of the 2020 ASEAN events, especially the series of Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meetings, which will be scheduled to be held from March 24-27, 2020 in the city of Ha Long, Quang Ninh province.
Within the ASEAN+3 framework, Vietnam and Japan, which will assume the role of the ASEAN+3 co-Chair, would coordinate to implement the initiatives of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), the Asia Bond Market Initiative (ABMI), promoting the activities of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), and making recommendations on both contents and modalities for improving the efficiency of the process. In order to fulfill the role of the Chair of the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Financial Cooperation, Governor Le Minh Hung hoped to receive the active support from the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi.
In particular, following up on the cooperative themes developed by the previous Chairs in the past, based on the progress of the initiatives and activities being implemented in the process of the ASEAN financial and banking cooperation, in line with the ASEAN 2020 theme at the national level, the SBV has proposed the priority theme of cooperation in the banking sector for the 2020 ASEAN Presidency, which consists of three elements: "Cohesive", " Inclusive” and “Responsive” especially the key programs such as Enhancement of Financial Inclusion for disadvantaged people, small and medium enterprises, etc.; Banking integration and e-commerce; Promoting ASEAN payment connection and Cyber security and safety, etc.
Speaking at the meeting, Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi said that the finance and banking sector has created an important framework and transmission channel for the development of the ASEAN community. The ASEAN Secretary-General also expressed his impressions with the SBV's preparation for the 2020 ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Financial Cooperation Process, and affirmed that the ASEAN Secretariat would coordinate closely with the SBV to successfully organize this process in 2020.
Governor Le Minh takes a photo with the ASEAN Secretary-General and the ASEAN Secretariat
Mr. Lim Jock Hoi said that the ASEAN Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meetings have been a great contribution to the finalization of the ASEAN Single Window mechanism. This is a very important channel to promote the ASEAN trade and investment. The ASEAN Secretary-General also spoke highly of the SBV’s efforts and the Vietnamese side in promoting the banking cooperation in ASEAN. The results of this cooperation process provide very useful information for the business community of the ASEAN countries.
Le Hang