On November 28, 2022, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu had a meeting with Mr. Shawn Steil, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Vietnam.
An overview of the meeting
At the meeting, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu welcomed Ambassador Shawn Steil to have a working visit to the SBV. He expressed his sincere thanks to the Government of Canada for having supported Vietnam in the process of socio-economic development through the implementation of various projects, which have contributed to the improvement of the institutional systems and the capacity development of the SBV and the credit institutions in Vietnam over the past years, including the Banking Sector Reform Project for the 2005-2010 period; the Project on Enhancing the Banking Regulation and Supervision for the 2014-2019 period; and particularly the Project on Strengthening the People’s Credit Funds Network (STEP) supported by Développement International Desjardins (DID) for Co-op Bank and Vietnam’s People’s Credit Funds (PCF) system. The results of Canadian-funded projects have helped to improve the SBV's work performance, such as TeamMate internal audit system; the risk-based monitoring manual; the tools for monitoring the implementation of Basel II application by commercial banks; the PCF system development on the basis of the Canadian model of people's credit funds.
SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu speaks at the meeting
The SBV Deputy Governor believed that through STEP Project, the management capacity and the service provision of the PCF system in Vietnam would be significantly improved, thereby enhancing the financial accessibility for Vietnamese people, especially those in the rural, mountainous areas and women.
Sharing about the SBV's long-term priorities in the field of financial inclusion and the role of the PCF system, the SBV Deputy Governor said that over the past two decades, the Government of Vietnam has adopted many strategies, policies, action plans and measures to realize the goals of sustainable growth and socio-economic development, in which improving incomes and living standards in rural areas and creating equal opportunities for people to access resources for their development and benefit from the basic services are considered as a top priority.
The Deputy Governor also added that there are now 1,179 PCFs operating in 57 out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam, covering 2,832 communes/wards/towns, and serving over 1.55 million members. In that context, the Government of Vietnam in general and the SBV in particular have very high evaluation for the timely support of the Government of Canada through STEP Project in order to improve the operations of Vietnam’s PCF system through sharing Canada's successful models and experience with Vietnam.
Mr. Shawn Steil, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Vietnam, speaks at the meeting
For his part, Ambassador Shawn Steil expressed his sincere thanks to the SBV Deputy Governor for his time and warm hospitality. He emphasized that Vietnam and Canada have had a long cooperative relationship in the banking sector. The projects that the two sides had jointly implemented are clear evidences for this effective comprehensive partnership.
The Ambassador also expressed his high compliments for Vietnam's National Financial Inclusion Strategy, and affirmed that Canada would continue to support the implementation of this important Strategy.
Expressing his pleasure at the positive results of STEP Project, which has brought about practical effects to the PCF system in Vietnam, the Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam reaffirmed that the Government of Canada would continue to support STEP Project in order to help restructure Vietnam’s PCF system, aiming at building a safe, effective, and highly interconnected PCF system on the basis of Canadian experience, thereby contributing greatly to the implementation Vietnam's National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Le Hang