On May 22, 2023, in Hanoi, First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had a meeting with Mr. Gerardo Almaguer, President of Développement international Desjardins (DID). Also attending the meeting, on the SBV’s side, there were representatives from the International Cooperation Department, the Banking Supervision Agency, and the Cooperative Bank of Vietnam (Co-opBank). On the DID’s side, there was Mr. Claude Lafond, Director of the Project on Strengthening the People’s Credit Funds Network (STEP project), and others.
SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu meets DID President
At the meeting, First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu warmly welcomed the working visit of DID President Gerardo Almaguer to the SBV, and expressed his thanks to the DID for having supported Co-opBank in the implementation of the STEP project since 2017. The SBV Deputy Governor asserted that this project has contributed significantly to enhancing Co-opBank’s capacity in supporting Vietnam’s system of people’s credit funds, as well as to the diversification of products and services of the people’s credit funds in Vietnam; thereby, improving the accessibility to financial services, especially for the people in the rural and mountainous areas, as well as for women.
First Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu speaks at the meeting
The SBV Deputy Governor further shared that the system of people’s credit funds in Vietnam had been established with reference to the Canadian model. Ever since 1990, despite several reforms, the system of people’s credit funds in Vietnam have still been facing many potential risks, and have not yet met the requirements of safe, healthy and sustainable development in the new era of digital technologies and a digital economy. Therefore, in order to achieve the goals of sustainable, safe and healthy development, and to realize the goal of financial inclusion, it is necessary to reform and restructure the overall system of people's credit funds and Co-opBank. Thus, in the coming time, the SBV Deputy Governor hoped that the Government of Canada and the DID would continue to accompany and support the SBV in the process of restructuring the people's credit funds in Vietnam, ensuring safe and healthy development, in accordance with the international practices and development trends, in alignment with Vietnam's conditions.
According to the SBV Deputy Governor, the DID has supported Co-opBank in the implementation of the STEP project for the past seven years by sharing successful lessons from Canada, with considerations of the practical situations in Vietnam. The SBV Deputy Governor also re-affirmed his beliefs that the DID could further contribute actively to the process of restructuring the system of people's credit funds in Vietnam towards building a prudent, efficient and highly-connected system in the future.
Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu went on to share that, within the framework of the upcoming working mission to Canada, the SBV wishes to engage in direct discussions with the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the Bank of Canada to propose new cooperation projects and programs between the two sides in the coming time, mainly focusing on learning from and applying Canada’s experience in the process of restructuring the DID to the restructuring the people's credit funds system in Vietnam.
Mr. Gerardo Almaguer, DID President, speaks at the meeting
For his part, DID President Gerardo Almaguer expressed his pleasure with the long-term and sustainable relationship between Vietnam and Canada in general, as well as between the DID and the SBV in particular.
The DID President also shared about the DID's performance results recently, as well as the measures that DID had applied to overcome the difficulties caused by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the DID’s orientations for the future.
The DID President emphasized that the DID always stands ready to accompany with, cooperate and support Vietnam. In addition, the DID President also wished to cooperate with the SBV in new projects, aiming at the goal of improving Vietnamese people’s access to financial services.
Le Hang