On September 20, 2023, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had a meeting with Mr. Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The meeting was organized within the framework of the first official working visit of Mr. Agustín Carstens to Vietnam.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong meets BIS General Manager
At the meeting, the two sides exchanged their views about the world economic developments and outlooks, as well as the implications of the technological advances on the performance of the central banks and the financial systems, and the cooperation between the SBV and the BIS. Mr. Carstens made high evaluation for the encouraging results that the Government of Vietnam and the SBV have obtained in controlling the inflation, maintaining the financial sector’s stability during the post COVID recovery, contributing to maintaining the economic growth rate at a reasonable level despite many difficulties and challenges facing the global economies.
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at the Meeting
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong highly acknowledged the BIS’s role in promoting fintech and the application of technologies in the central banks’ operations, management, supervision and inspection over the financial systems, the enhancement of cross-border payment. The SBV Governor also mentioned that, implementing Innovation BIS 2025, the BIS had established 7 Innovation Hubs in several member countries and implemented many projects on the application of new technologies such as AI, the management and supervision over the financial systems, e-payment, etc. Moreover, the BIS has conducted many projects connecting the payment systems at the Innovation Hubs in order to build a technological infrastructure for high-tech products, and to enhance the connection of payment systems among nations and regions.
Mr. Agustín Carstens speaks at the Meeting
Discussing about the cooperation between the SBV and the BIS, Mr. Agustín Carstens expressed his beliefs in the SBV’s active role and participation in the BIS’s activities after the SBV became a BIS member in 2020, marking the dynamic integration of Vietnam’s banking sector into the global financial system. Mr. Agustín Carstens also shared that the BIS members have made positive assessments of the SBV’s active participation in the various platforms and innovation projects. The two sides agreed to continue enhancing the cooperative activities, such as dialogues, experience sharing, training, and the improvement of staff capacity, as well as to accelerate the SBV’s participation in the BIS’s initiatives on related to the financial infrastructure, the payment systems, the innovations in the finance and banking sector.
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong presents a souvenir to BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens.
Sharing about the digital transformation of the banking sector, the SBV Governor affirmed that the banking sector is one of pioneering sectors in the digital transformation in Vietnam. The banking sector has developed various products on the digital platforms, enhanced the cooperation with fintech companies in order to develop new products and services, thereby meeting the increasing demands of customers. In the field of cross-border payment, the SBV has been putting enormous efforts in cooperating with the ASEAN member states to strengthen the connection of the payment systems with the objectives of building an infrastructure, connecting the payment systems in ASEAN in compliance with the international standards, in order to promote the capital flows and the financial integration.
Mr. Agustin Carstens expressed his pleasure at his working visit to Vietnam on his position as the BIS General Manager, and assessed that Vietnam is one of the most dynamic economies, with one of the fastest growth rates in the world. The BIS General Manager said that the BIS would always be ready to enhance the cooperation with the SBV in the fields of digital transformation and innovations in the finance and banking sector.
Le Hang