On December 1, 2023, in Luang Prabang, the 2023 Annual Bilateral Meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Bank of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (BOL) was organized under the co-chairmanship of the two central banks' Governors.
The bilateral Meeting coincided with the celebrations of the 48th anniversary of the National Day of the Lao P.D.R. (December 2, 1975 – December 2, 2023). On this special occasion, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong extended her congratulations on the encouraging results that the Lao P.D.R. has achieved over the past time.
An overview of the bilateral meeting
Also at the Meeting, the two sides exchanged their experience and discussed the important matters regarding the central banks’ management in light of unprecedented developments around the world. Moreover, the BOL Governor highly appreciated the shared contents from the Vietnamese side about the monetary policy management, the inflation control and the improvement of the legal frameworks for forex transactions, linked with the proactive communication to improve the public confidence in the local currency, etc. Reviewing the cooperation results between the two central banks in 2023, the two Governors assessed that those activities had been organized frequently and had obtained encouraging results. In addition, the two Governors also agreed with the cooperation orientations for 2024, which would focus on the practical activities, the enhancement of the connection between the two banking sectors and the two central banks.
The two Governors sign the MoU on Promoting Local Currency
At the dialogue session with the Vietnamese banks operating in the Lao P.D.R., Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Governor Bounleua Sinxayvoravong listened to the reports by the banks’ representatives on their operational performances in the Lao P.D.R., and made several recommendations. Acknowledging the encouraging results of the Vietnamese banks operating in the Lao P.D.R., the two Governors asserted that those banks had not only operated effectively and strictly complied with the applicable laws, but also contributed significantly to the community development in the Lao P.D.R. Governor Nguyen Thi Hong expressed her beliefs that Vietnamese banks would continue to play a significant role as bridges for the bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The SBV Governor went on to encourage those banks to proactively report and make recommendations on possible dialogue mechanisms with the BOL, creating a channel of regular policy dialogues towards building an appropriate legal framework for the monetary and banking operations, in order to create favorable conditions to attract more investment for the economic development.
Representatives of the two central banks and the commercial banks at the meeting
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Governor Bounleua Sinxayvoravong also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Promoting Local Currency, witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the study and the pilot implementation of the cross-border QR payment between Vietnam and Lao, using the QR codes generated by LAPNET and NAPAS. These are the preconditions for the implementation of the practical cooperation, contributing to strengthening the economic ties between Vietnam and the Lao P.D.R. in the coming time.
Le Hang