ASEAN affirms its role as epicentrum of growth
Jakarta (VNA) – As part of the first ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central
Bank Governors' Meeting (AFMGM) held from March 28-31 in Bali, the host country
Indonesia organised AFMGMs with the ASEAN-US Business Council (ASEAN-US ABC),
the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU ABC), and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council
(ASEAN ABAC) on March 29.
Under the co-chairmanship of Indonesian Finance
Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo, the
meetings discussed a range of important issues related to the ASEAN region,
including digital economy and digital finance for micro, small, and
medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), payment systems and their connectivity,
sustainable finance, ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, food security and ASEAN
health fund.
Governor Perry affirmed the important role of
ASEAN in the global economy, saying that along with the development of information
technology, ASEAN is carrying out digital transformation to continue to encourage economic growth, which is in line with the digitalisation pillar of Indonesia's Chairmanship in ASEAN.
Perry also introduced the ASEAN region's initiative on payment system
connectivity, which is a follow-up of the joint agreement of five ASEAN central banks in November
2022 within the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) framework.
For her
part, Finance Minister Indrawati stressed that apart from digital
transformation, economic growth must be inclusive and sustainable. In an
effort to achieve a low-carbon economy, ASEAN has launched the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance version 2, which is the first taxonomy in the world that has accommodated the energy transition based on the activity categories which are channeled to eligibility for funding.
She also conveyed the need to strengthen collaboration in the health and financial sectors by all parties in ASEAN, both for government and private sector, as an effort to deal with potential health crises in the future.
On the occasion,
ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors welcomed the promotion of
cooperation between ASEAN countries and the US ABC, EU ABC, and ASEAN ABAC to
support trade, investment, and strengthen the ASEAN economic structure to be the epicentrum of growth for the world./.