The meeting of ASEAN deputy finance ministers and vice central bank governors opened in Nha Trang city of the central coast province of Khanh Hoa on April 5.

The meeting, under the chairmanship of Vietnamese Deputy Finance Minister Tran Xuan Ha, is intended to prepare agenda items for ASEAN financial cooperation to be presented to the 14th ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting slated for April 7 and 8 in Khanh Hoa.

The meeting discussed topics relating to the process of financial and monetary integration through ASEAN’s working committees on capital market development, financial services and capital account liberalisation and financial cooperation initiatives such as insurance and customs cooperation.

The participants discussed the initiative to sponsor ASEAN infrastructure, especially in cooperation with the World Bank to set up an infrastructure sponsorship network, as well as the Asian Development Bank’s proposal to establish the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund to mobilise sources of capital for investing in regional infrastructure projects.

Regarding the framework of customs cooperation, the meeting agreed to present for signing to ASEAN Finance Ministers the amended protocol on the bloc’s harmonised tariff nomenclature so as to finalise tariffs and facilitate the declaration of goods traded among member countries.

Regarding the initiative of financial cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, the Republic of Korea, Japan and China (ASEAN+3), the meeting discussed and reached consensus on the development of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) and the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM). The results of the discussions will serve as a foundation for the meeting of ASEAN+3 deputy finance ministers and vice central bank governors to be held on April 6.

The participants agreed that the next meeting will be held in Brunei Darussalam in 2011./.