A workshop to introduce Indonesia’s experience in reforming its banking system was held in Hanoi on March 26, with the participation of many researchers and economic experts.

The event is one of a number of cooperative activities organised between the United Nations Development Programme, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the National Finance Supervision Committee (NFSC).

As well as illustrating banking reform in Indonesia, participants discussed the challenges facing Vietnam in this sector and potential solutions.

Dr. Syafruddin Temenggung, former Chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said Vietnam should establish a bank deposit insurance system to rebuild the confidence of customers and thus adding prestige to the country’s banking system.

This is the optimal measure for settling credit and banking issues that could have a negative impact for Vietnam’s economy, he noted.

According to Chairman of the NFSC Vu Viet Ngoan, short-term measures recently taken by the Vietnamese Government to contain the spread of financial insecurity and stabilise the trust of the people have proven efficient, as the bad debt rate dropped to just 3.6 percent in 2013.

Ngoan stressed it is necessary for Vietnam to increase the transparency of its financial system, especially restructuring financial supervision and fostering coordination between financial supervision agencies and those operating in policymaking.-VNA