On September 28-30, 2022, the Delegation of Vietnam, which was headed by Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), attended the 55th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Meeting was held in Manila, the Philippines.
Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha attends the 55th ADB's Annual Meeting
In his speech at the Meeting, Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha briefed of the results that Vietnam has achieved in the process of the socio-economic recovery and development in the post COVID-19 time. He emphasized that the Government of Vietnam had conducted various measures to both respond effectively to the pandemic, maintain the macro-economic stability and support sustainable growth. In addition, the Government of Vietnam had also paid special attention to the vulnerable groups and the COVID-19 affected people and enterprises, while ensuring the combination with the Government’s commitments on green growth. Thanks to those efforts, Vietnam has achieved encouraging results in the economic recovery, such as the maintenance of the macro-economic stability and the sustainable recovery growth, the inflation control and the macro balance ensuring. Therefore, Vietnam's economic growth is forecast to reach 6.5%- 6.8%, a significant increase from the previous forecast level of 6% by the international organizations; the inflation is expected to be controlled at below 4%; the economic growth in 2023 is also forecast to be at a high level of 6.7%. The international organizations had also raised Vietnam's national credit ratings, i.e., from BB to BB+ by S&P (in May, 2022), and from Ba3 to Ba2 by Moody's.
Delegates at the 55th ADB's Annual Meeting 2022
Talking about the relations with the ADB, Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha expressed his high evaluation for the ADB’s support to Vietnam over the past time, especially in the post-COVID period. The SBV Deputy Governor emphasized that, the ADB's Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2023-2026 for Viet Nam, with the theme of “Promotion of inclusive, green, and private sector-led development”, would help the two sides identify the strategic priorities and methods of cooperation to implement specific cooperation activities in the coming time. The Government of Vietnam is committed to continuing to maintain the close cooperation with the ADB and creating favorable conditions for the ADB to participate in supporting the recovery process, and the green and sustainable growth of Vietnam’s economy.
In addition to the official meetings of the ADB’s Board of Governors, the Delegation of Vietnam also joined a number of side meetings and had bilateral meetings with Mr. Ahmed M.Saed, ADB Vice President in charge of Southeast Asia; Mr. Ashok Lavasa, ADB Vice President in charge of the private sector; the Directors General of the Southeast Asia Department and the Private Sector Operations Department, the Executive Director of the Vietnam Representative Country Group at the ADB, as well as other technical meetings. At all of the meetings and working sessions, the ADB and its partners congratulated on and expressed their impression with Vietnam's outstanding achievements in dealing with the crisis, restoring the economic growth and ensuring the macro stability. The ADB leaders also talked highly of the efforts of the Government of Vietnam and the SBV in ensuring the foundations for the recovery and the sustainable development, especially the efforts towards green and economic digitization. The ADB leadership affirmed that Vietnam is one of its important partners with a lot of potentials. Therefore, it is the ADB’s wishes that the Government of Vietnam and the relevant Ministries and agencies would continue to closely coordinate with the ADB to remove any difficulties in the implementation of the cooperation in order to promote more effectively the strengths and potentials of both sides.
The SBV Deputy Governor agreed with the assessments about the potentials for developing the cooperation between the two sides, and expressed high evaluation for the results achieved in the cooperation between Vietnam and the ADB, in both public and private sectors. The SBV Deputy Governor also expressed his agreement with the ADB's assessment about the role of Vietnamese credit institutions in promoting green finance and green growth, and suggested that the ADB continue to strengthen the cooperation with Vietnam’s credit institutions in the preparation and implementation of projects in this direction. At the bilateral meetings, the two sides also expressed their wishes and agreed to cooperate more closely to further promote the cooperative relationship between the ADB and Vietnam for the long-term benefits.
Le Hang