Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha and Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong co-chair the meeting. (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy ministers of finance and deputy governors of central banks in ASEAN and the US gathered at an online meeting on October 1 to share information and views on stable and sustainable finance and banking development.
The meeting was held as part of the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting hosted by Vietnam.
Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha and Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong co-chaired the meeting.
Macro-economic policy coordination put on table
The dialogue between ASEAN’s finance-banking sector and the US Department of the Treasury is an annual event considered important for sharing information and views on finance-banking and helping relevant parties effectively coordinate macro-economic policies, contributing to ensuring the finance stability and sustainability of their nations.
During the event, Deputy Finance Ministers, Deputy Governors of the Central Banks of ASEAN member countries and their US counterparts focused their discussion on several issues of regional and global concern, including economic policies in response to COVID-19.
They shared the view that as the global economy is facing an array of difficulties and challenges, close bilateral and regional cooperation among countries’ finance-banking agencies play a crucial role.
Participants shared lessons and experience in operating finance-banking policies in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which are expected to contribute to helping finance-banking policy management agencies build appropriate policies to effectively respond to effects of the health crisis and promote economic growth of each country and the region.
They also spent time on discussing issues related to the transparency of public debt and financial management, and finance for infrastructure development, where the US has a lot of experience and can share with ASEAN countries.
Participants in the ASEAN-US finance and central bank deputies’ meeting (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Expanding cooperation to address difficulties
Regarding infrastructure development, participants emphasised the particularly important role of infrastructure finance in the region.
The lack of suitable long-term financial sources is a major barrier to infrastructure development, so cooperation and experience sharing in mobilising financial resources for infrastructure development is an issue of concern in the ASEAN region, they said.
Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha delivered a speech on Vietnam’s financial policy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with key measures to help people and businesses overcome the crisis period, in order to realise the dual targets of containing the pandemic and promoting economic development.
He also noted the country’s views on public debt management and finance for infrastructure development.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong said that as economies are largely dependent on each other, the pandemic’s impacts on global socio-economic development become even more serious and complex.
According to the Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, ASEAN and the US are also affected by the pandemic. However, finance ministries and central banks have taken swift and timely actions to sustain financial and macro-economic stability.
Hong said ASEAN countries look forward to maintaining regular policy dialogue and closely coordinating with the US in the future.
Participants agreed on the importance of expanding cooperation between ASEAN and the US and jointly making efforts to overcome difficulties in the time to come.
They spoke highly of contents discussed at the event, saying that the contents will contribute to building public policies in ASEAN member nations, thus jointly creating the favourable investment and business environment in the region, towards sustainable development of the finance-banking sector in particular and the regional economy in general./.
