On February 22, 2020, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) organized a meeting of the ASEAN Senior Level Committee on Financial Integration (SLC) within the ASEAN Finance and Banking Cooperation process. This is the last meeting in a series of events which took place during February 15-22, 2020 under Vietnam’s Chairmanship of ASEAN. The meetings of the ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Working Group (AFCDM-WG) and the SCCB were held a day before this meeting of the SLC.
In order to prepare for a series of high-level meetings and events in the finance and banking sector, which are scheduled on March 24 through 27, 2020 in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, at this meeting, the representatives from the ASEAN central banks were updated on the implementation of the initiatives and priorities set out for 2019, as well as the proposed operational orientations for 2020 concerning each working committee. The working committees include the ASEAN Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization (WC-FSL), the Working Committee on Capital Market Development (WC-CMD), the Working Committee on Capital Account Liberalization (WC-CAL), the Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (WC-PSS), the Working Committee on ASEAN Banking Integration Framework (WC-ABIF), the Working Committee on Financial Inclusion (WC-FINC), the Steering Committee on Capacity Building (SCCB), and Task Force on the role of central banks in environmental and climate risks for sustainable development.
Moreover, the SBV also made a presentation on the proposed set of principles for ASEAN sustainable banking. The participants agreed on the activities to be implemented in 2020, as well as the contents to be reported to the ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting (AFCDM), before submitting to the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at the upcoming 6th Meeting.
In her opening speech, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong emphasized that 2020 is a significant year to the ASEAN Community, marking half the way to realize the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2025. This is the time for the member countries to look back together, evaluate the results made during the past 5 years, and plan for the remaining 5 years. On this occasion, Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong informed the participants about the ASEAN 2020 theme of “Cohesive – Responsive” for Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship role. This theme is coherent to the general orientations of the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam for the regional cooperation, and also in line with the five main objectives of the AEC Blueprint 2025 as agreed by the ASEAN countries in 2016, namely: (i) One highly integrated and cohesive economy; (ii) A competitive, innovative and dynamic ASEAN; (iii) Enhancing professional connections and cooperation; (iv) A resilient, comprehensive, and people-centered ASEAN; (v) A global ASEAN. In that spirit, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong encouraged the co-Chair of the SLC and the Working Committees to further cooperate actively to achieve better results, creating a solid foundation for sustainable development and efficiency of the entire banking system in the region.
In the recent time, the banking sector has obtained many achievements in the process of regional cooperation and integration. With the establishment of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI), the Working Committees have been able to strengthen the performance monitoring and evaluation in the region.
In addition, the Working Committees have also conducted regular risk monitoring activities to analyze the risk factors that hinder the ASEAN integration agenda and recommend measures of mitigation. These efforts have been contributing positively to the encouraging results in the AEC implementation.
In the context of global and regional economic uncertainties, the regular policy dialogues among all Working Committees have helped to enhance the experience and knowledge sharing among the central banks in the region, promoting the efforts of the member countries in ensuring the ASEAN integrity and financial stability.
Le Hang