On August 30, 2021, as invited by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended and delivered a keynote speech at the virtual ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2021 with the theme of Fintech and Financial Literacy.
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh attends ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2021
Within the ASEAN cooperation framework, the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit is an important event among a series of programs aimed to connect the ASEAN business communities and is organized by the ASEAN-BAC. This year's Summit focuses on facilitating the realization of the three key priorities under Brunei Darussalam's ASEAN Chairmanship 2021, namely Recovery, Digitalization and Sustainability.
The Summit included two thematic panel discussions on: (i) Fintech for an Inclusive and Sustainable ASEAN, and (ii) the Role of Financial Literacy in ASEAN’s Economic Prosperity. Hon. Dato Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Brunei Darussalam attended and delivered an opening speech at the Summit.
In the first panel discussion, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh talked about the role of Fintech for the sustainable and inclusive development in ASEAN and shared some experience from Vietnam. The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing adverse impacts on all aspects of the socio-economic life globally, as well as in the Southeast Asia (SEA) over the past two years, putting pressure on the global economy, not only posing a threat to human health and social welfare, but also causing disruptions to the functioning of the world economy. However, the current COVID situation has also encouraged technological innovations, creativity, and accelerated the application of financial and digital technologies to enhance people's access to finance, the resilience of people and businesses to risks, etc. In addition, the digital transformation and the application of financial technology also play an important role in the post-pandemic economic recovery process, because in the long run, Fintech can help people and businesses maintain and increase their accessibility to financial services, even in times of lockdowns, supporting businesses to reopen in the "new normalcy", and the trend of non-cash payments will continue to develop strongly due to the changes in consumers’ habits, psychology and behavior, as well as the development of innovative Fintech solutions to make payment become more convenient, promote the sale of goods and services, reduce transaction costs; Fintech solutions in the credit area contribute to shortening the time for credit approval, and help supply more capital into the economy. Therefore, Fintech has great potential in solving the current challenges and obstacles caused by the pandemic. It is also an opportunity for the conventional financial institutions in ASEAN to accelerate their digital transformation, significantly shortening the roadmap for digitalizing the banking operations.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh delivers a keynote speech at the Summit
Fintech also plays an important role in the economic recovery and the sustainable development. Fintech will create new opportunities for economies around the world in general and ASEAN economies in particular, both for economic development and environmental protection through promoting green growth initiatives. Fintech can assist in providing quality data and tools to help organizations and individuals make optimal decisions about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments. As committed at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2020, Vietnam is striving to become the destination of many regional and global investors and entrepreneurs seeking cooperation, mutual successes, and will collaborate with other ASEAN members and ASEAN's partner countries to continue with more practical support programs for businesses in the region, especially in the fields of digital transformation, ESG, technology and future of employment in the region, sustainable and inclusive development.
Recognizing the importance of Fintech and digital technology, Vietnam's National Financial Inclusion Strategy to 2025, Vision to 2030 has identified one of the goals as promoting the application of digital technology, enhancing innovation in the design and distribution of financial products and services in the direction of simplicity, convenience, cost reduction and affordability for people and businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and people in rural, remote and low-income areas. In Vietnam, Fintech has been developing rapidly in the recent years, especially since the onset of the coronavirus outbreaks, thereby significantly contributing to increasing financial access for people and helping them to overcome the difficulties and challenges caused by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SBV Deputy Governor's keynote speech was the basis for the follow-up discussion chaired by Mr. Jonathan Wong, Director of Technology & Innovation, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). In the second panel discussion, Mr. Ahmaddin Abd Rahman, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam (Brunei Darussalam Central Bank) made another keynote speech on the role of financial literacy in ASEAN's economic prosperity, which acted as the basis for the panelists to discuss on how to improve the financial literacy (including digital finance) and the role of Governments as well as the private sectors in this area.
Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh also thanked the ASEAN-BAC for having invited the SBV to attend and speak at the Summit and shared that it was a valuable opportunity for the SBV to participate in the discussions and listen to the sharing and recommendations from experts and regulators about Fintech and financial literacy for the region's inclusive and sustainable development.
Le Hang