On February 28, 2023, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh had a meeting with Mr. Burkhard Balz, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank (the Central Bank of the Federal Republic of Germany).
At the meeting, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh welcomed Mr. Burkhard Balz and the delegation from the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germanny to Vietnam to visit and work with the SBV.
The Deputy Governor emphasized that Vietnam and Germany have established a strategic partnership since 2011. Currently, Vietnam is a "global partner" in Germany's 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy (BMZ 2030 Strategy). Vietnam is also the biggest trading partner of Germany in Southeast Asia, and the 6th largest trading partner in Asia.
The SBV Deputy Governor also acknowledged the active role of Germany in the negotiation process and the ratification of the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). The Deputy Governor reaffirmed the SBV leadership’s gratitude for the support from the Deutsche Bundesbank to the SBV over the past time.
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh speaks at the meeting.
Discussing about the areas of green credit and the relevant cooperation orientations, the Deputy Governor mentioned Vietnam's strong commitments made at COP26. According to Mr. Nguyen Kim Anh, it is a very big challenge for Vietnam in general and the banking and financial system of the country in particular, as the main channel providing capital for the economy. In this regard, the SBV has implemented a lot of measures to direct the credit flows, invest in green, environmentally-friendly projects, thus contributing to the implementation of Vietnam's national strategy on green growth and sustainable development.
However, the current management practices require Vietnamese banking sector to strictly comply with the regulatory safety ratios, seriously focus on risk management, and promote credit for green infrastructure development, etc.
It is the SBV’s wishes to expand and strengthen the cooperation relations with the German counterparts in the area of green finance; and to join the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) in the near future in order to strengthen the capacity in policy development for banking operations and green credit.
In addition, the SBV also wishes to have opportunities to access and attract international green credit sources, as well as the international experience and expertise in the development of green financial instruments in order to overcome the capital shortages for Vietnam's green growth and sustainable energy transition.
Acknowledging Germany's experience in the fields of payment, digital transformation of banking operations, the Deputy Governor asserted that the SBV has received highly practical and useful support from the Deutsche Bundesbank through the programs and projects implemented by the GIZ (the German Agency for International Development).
According to the SBV Deputy Governor, Vietnam's banking system has achieved some initial encouraging results in its efforts to promote e-payment and digital transformation. The SBV Deputy Governor hoped that the two central banks could strengthen the cooperation and the experience sharing on policy and regulation development in order to take advantage of the opportunities and to address the challenges of the digitization trends in the economy in general and the banking sector in particular.
Mr. Burkhard Balz, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, speaks at the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Burkhard Balz confirmed that the Deutsche Bundesbank always stands ready to strengthen the cooperation and share its experience on the areas of mutual interest. According to Mr. Burkhard Balz, the Deutsche Bundesbank has established specialized units responsible for green finance development, sustainable development and banking digital transformation.
About the training cooperation, according to Mr. Burkhard Balz, the Deutsche Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences, the German academic institution engaged in banking training, could strengthen and further promote its international cooperation activities with Vietnamese partners, including the SBV.
The two sides also discussed about the topics of cross-border and international payment, the central bank digital currency (CBDC), etc.
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh believed that the two sides could jointly find a lot of potential for the bilateral cooperation in the area of training and capacity development in various professional fields related to the central bank operations, the banking inspection and supervision, human resource management with the active support and assistance from the GIZ.
The SBV Deputy Governor went on to express his hope that, in the coming time, the two sides could include the topics of banking digital transformation, green finance and green credit into the bilateral cooperation mechanism; and consider to implement new and appropriate forms of cooperation and experience sharing, contributing to promoting the cooperation relations between the two central banks.
LK