On March 21, 2023, in Hanoi, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had a meeting with Mr. Sandeep Arya, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Vietnam.
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong meets Indian Ambassador to Vietnam.
At the meeting, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong warmly welcomed Mr. Sandeep Arya and the delegation from the Indian Embassy in Vietnam to the SBV, and congratulated Mr. Sandeep Arya on his new appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Vietnam from late 2022.
The SBV Governor expressed her beliefs that Ambassador Sandeep Arya would contribute significantly to the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, especially when the two countries had celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2022.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong also affirmed that India is one of only four countries that Vietnam has established comprehensive strategic partnership with. In the period of complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-way trade between India and Vietnam was still promoted, reflecting the big potentials for the further development of the trade and investment relations between the two countries.
Regarding the banking cooperation between the two countries, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong shared that, in 2012, the SBV and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Information Exchange in the areas of Banking Inspection and Supervision, which now acts as a channel for the information and experience exchanges in the management of the banking operations between the two countries, especially in the context when the role of the banking inspection and supervision has received more and more attention.
Sharing about the cooperation between the commercial banks of the two countries, the SBV Governor mentioned that 256 agency relationships have been established between Vietnamese and Indian banks. There is currently one Indian credit institution operating in Vietnam. Those banks’ operations have contributed to supporting and enhancing the trade and investment relations between the two countries.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Indian Ambassador Sandeep Arya, together with the participants from both sides.
The SBV Governor further shared that, in the coming time, Vietnam’s Socio-economic Development Strategy would focus on the key substances such as the economic restructuring, the payment promotion, the digital transformation in the banking operations towards building a digital economy and a digital society. In addition, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which focuses on measures to enhance the accessibility to finance, also aims to implement the goal of financial inclusion with SMEs, the poor in the remote areas, etc. as target beneficiaries.
On that basis, the SBV Governor hoped that India would continue to share more experience in the field of supporting SMEs, as well as the facilitating policies on enhancing the access to bank loans, the application of fintech, and the promotion of payment activities, etc.
For his part, Ambassador Sandeep Arya asserted that India and Vietnam have a lot of things in common, therefore Indian Ambassador hoped to further promote the cooperative relations between the two banking sectors, especially in the areas of common interest, seeking solutions to the challenges, and improving the efficiency of the cooperation. The Ambassador also assessed that the finance and banking sector is one of the key pillars in the cooperation of the two countries in the future.
Also at the meeting, the two sides exchanged information about the fast payment systems on mobile devices, as well as the potentials for the cooperation between the NCPI and NAPAS, etc.
Le Hang