On September 25-27, 2023, Vietnam’s delegation headed by Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended the 8th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The Delegation also had bilateral meetings on the sideline.
In the Governors’ Business Roundtable, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu presented Vietnam's views on the topics of the discussion session. According to the SBV Deputy Governor, the investment resources from the governments are not enough to meet the enormous infrastructure needs of the member countries, and therefore the AIIB could enhance its role through implementing measures of reviewing the capital frameworks and mobilizing capital from the private sector. Appealing for more concessional financing resources and promoting the co-financing mechanisms to reduce the borrowing costs for least developed and developing members is very important to enhance the accessibility to capital and spread the development implications of the AIIB's financing activities.
The meeting between the Head of Vietnam’s delegation and the AIIB’s Vice President
On this occasion, Vietnam’s delegation also had a high-level meeting with Mr. Urjit R. Patel, AIIB Vice President for Investment Operations (Region 1, covering South Asia, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia). At the meeting, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu congratulated the AIIB on its impressive achievements after more than 7 years of operation, and highly complimented the AIIB's Board of Directors for having responded quickly and made timely adjustments in its policies and operations, helping the AIIB to overcome the difficulties and fulfill its key objectives, especially in carrying out its mission of supporting the member countries to cope with the crisis and recover the economy, while still ensuring the maintenance of a safe and healthy financial situation.
Head of Vietnam’s delegation and the AIIB’s Vice President
For his part, the AIIB’s Vice President spoke highly of the encouraging results that Vietnam has obtained in the economic growth and maintenance of the macro-economic stability over the past time. He also emphasized the importance of Vietnam as a founding member, a reliable and responsible partner in the international community. He asserted that the AIIB is committed to closely cooperating with the relevant parties in the coming time in order to further enhance the cooperative relations between the AIIB and Vietnam in the fields of infrastructure development and climate change response, as well as renewable energy development.
In addition, the delegation also had working sessions with several functional departments of the AIIB such as the Compliance Audit, the Investment, and the Finance units to share and exchange the perspectives of both sides in opening up and promoting the AIIB's activities in Vietnam.
Bilateral meeting with the Deputy Minister of Finance of Singapore
Also on the sideline of the AIIB Annual Meeting, Vietnam’s delegation had other high-level meetings with the Singaporean and Egyptian delegations. At the meeting with Mr. Kevin Shum, Singaporean Deputy Minister of Finance, the two sides shared their views and affirmed a common voice on the matters related to the development of the Country Group, as well as the promotion of the relationship with the AIIB. At the meeting with the Central Bank of Egypt, the two sides talked about the activities to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Cooperation in the banking sector signed in July 2023 within the framework of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang’s official visit to Egypt. The delegation also had a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt to discuss about Egypt's role in the general economic context, as a country in a strategic geographical position connecting Africa, Europe and Asia.
Vietnam’s attendance in the AIIB Annual Meeting, as well as the bilateral meetings with Vietnam’s partners, were of great importance at the time when Vietnam has graduated from the group of countries with access to concessional finance offered by the multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the developed countries, and is trying to increase its access to more market-based financial resources.
Le Hang