On March 13, 2024, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Governor Nguyen Thi Hong had a meeting with Mr. Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the occasion of his working visit to Vietnam during March 11-15, 2024.
At the meeting, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong welcomed Mr. Masatsugu Asakawa to make his first working visit to Vietnam as the ADB President, and emphasized that Mr. Masatsugu Asakawa’s visit is of great importance, in the context that the SBV is coordinating with the ADB to organize a ceremony celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the credit relations between the ADB and Vietnam, with the attendance of the Prime Minister, representatives from the Ministries, central agencies, local authorities, Embassies, international institutions in Vietnam, the private sector, etc.
An overview of the meeting
For his part, the ADB President congratulated the SBV on the successes in managing the monetary policy, controlling the inflation and maintaining the macro-economic stability. Moreover, the ADB President spoke highly of the SBV’s role in the cooperation process and the implementation of the ADB’s activities in Vietnam. He also shared that the ADB has been conducted reforms to enhance the operational efficiency and the capacity to better meet the demands of the member countries through promoting the role as the Climate Bank for the Asia and Pacific region, focusing on providing climate and mobilizing the investment resources from the private sector. In 2023, the ADB committed a record amount of USD 9.8 billion of climate finance, up by over 40% in comparison with that of 2022, in order to help its developing member countries in the region to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of a warming planet.
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa
Governor Nguyen Thi Hong highly appreciated the ADB’s commitment of USD 2.1 billion to support Vietnam’s implementation of its commitments in the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and also thanked the ADB for having allocated resources to support the national energy transition process. With the two pillars of the ADB's Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2023-2026 for Viet Nam, including (i) transition to a green economy; and (ii) development of the private sector and the promotion of social equity, the SBV Governor hoped that the ADB would continue to support Vietnam’s economic development toward a green, sustainable, low-emission and climate resilient economy through innovative assistance instruments that suit the demands of Vietnam’s market.
Participants at the meeting
About the processes, procedures for the initiation and the implementation of the ODA programs and projects, the SBV Governor shared that the Government, the Ministries and agencies have been putting strong efforts into urgently reviewing and evaluating the current processes and regulations for appropriate adjustments to accelerate the preparation progress for early implementation of the ODA programs and projects, including the ADB-funded ones, thereby effectively using the development resources from the international institutions. The SBV Governor also proposed that the ADB closely cooperate with the Government, the relevant Ministries and agencies, and provide necessary resources to resolve at an early stage any difficulties and obstacles arising in the preparation and utilization of ODA resources.
In addition, the two sides also exchanged their views about the situations and possible measures to promote the ADB’s assistance to the public and the private sectors in Vietnam in general, and in the banking sector in particular, etc.
Le Hang