On November 29, 2024, at the headquarters of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Governor Chea Serey of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) co-chaired the Bilateral Meeting between the SBV and the NBC (the Meeting). This is an annual event held on a rotating basis by the two central banks.
Bilateral Meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam and the National Bank of Cambodia
At the first session of the Meeting, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and NBC Governor Chea Serey exchanged their views on the international macroeconomic developments and their impacts on Vietnam’s and Cambodia’s economies. After that, the two sides actively discussed and shared about the macroeconomic situations, the management of the monetary policy and the banking operations in each country, focusing on the inflation, the exchange rate, and the operational situations of the banking systems of the two nations. In addition, the two sides also shared about the policy orientations of the two central banks in order to support the economy.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at the Bilateral Meeting
In her statement, SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong congratulated Cambodia on its positive results in the economic development in 2024, with a relatively high growth rate, while still maintaining good control of the inflation. The SBV Governor assessed that the two countries have been facing common challenges, requiring the two banking sectors to further strengthen the modernization toward international standards for security, and always stay alert to potential risks of bad debts.
NBC Governor Chea Serey speaks at the Meeting
With the strong development of non-cash payment services thanks to the application of modern technology, the banking sector has met the growing demands for payment of the economy. However, it also comes with potential risks of increasing cyber crime. In this regard, the two sides exchanged their experience on developing and operating the interbank electronic payment systems, preventing and combatting cyber frauds in payment operations, thereby coming up with possible solutions to reinforce and further develop the payment systems, ensuring the security and safety in the payment operations in each country.
The participants at the Meeting
Also at the meeting, the two central banks jointly reviewed the cooperation activities between the two sides in 2024, and agreed on a number of orientations for the bilateral banking cooperation in the coming time. Particularly, the two sides agreed to strengthen the exchanges and the experience sharing in the policy-making and the policy management between the two central banks, focusing on the practical topics of mutual interest, including: the monetary policy management tools, the solutions to prevent and combat phishing and frauds in the payment operations, and measures to minimize the risks in the banking operations.
In addition, the two Governors affirmed to continue to prioritize the resources to accelerate the implementation of the Vietnam-Cambodia joint project on connecting retail payments using QR codes.
The participants take a photo together
Within the framework of the Meeting, the two Governors also held a dialogue session with the Vietnamese commercial banks operating in Cambodia. The two Governors recognized the reports on the positive results of these banks, with their clear and strong commitments to long-term investment and full compliance with the laws of Cambodia, contributing to the sustainable development and the cooperative relationship in the banking sector between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Both Governors requested the banks to further enhance their strengths in order to affirm their positions in the market and to make positive contributions to the economic development of Cambodia, as well as to the growth of the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia. At present, there are five Vietnamese commercial banks present in Cambodia, i.e.: Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank); the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV); the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB); Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB); Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank).
Towards the end of the meeting, the two Governors agreed on the plan to hold the next 2025 Bilateral Meeting in Cambodia.
HY