ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting held

The ASEAN 3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting (AFCDM 3) takes place in Ha Noi on August 5, 2020 - Photo: VGP/Nguyen Hoang

This meeting has been considered as an important milestone in the ASEAN 3 financial cooperation progress in 2020 contributing to the Viet Nam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship.

The outcomes of discussion will be reported to the ASEAN 3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in September 2020.

The meeting has been composed of representatives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Director of the ASEAN 3 Regional Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), ASEAN Deputy Secretary General, Finance and Central Bank Deputies of ASEAN 3 countries.

Vice Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha and Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Thi Hong and Japan co-chaired the discussions.

At the meeting, the ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies and counterpartners from China, the Republic of Korea and Japan have actively discussed the financial cooperation initiatives within the ASEAN 3 region, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), Asian Bond Market Development (ABMI), reviewed new initiatives on financial cooperation in ASEAN 3, and endorsed the AMRO’s budget and staffing level.

On this occasion, the Deputies welcomed the revisions recently made to strengthen the CMIM Agreement as required by the changes in international financial market and in line with the coordination mechanism between CMIM and IMF.

Those actions target to bring CMIM become an effective tool to complement the regional and global financial safety net.

The Deputies highly appreciated the efforts of the ASEAN 3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) as an international organization, which has effectively implemented macro-economic monitoring activities and supported members to strengthen their capacity in policy making, in the context of human and budget constraints.

The Meeting also approved the AMRO's 2021 Budget and Staffing Level and the AMRO Director's 2019 Performance Assessment.

The Deputies also recognized the progress and outcomes of ABMI working groups in researching and improving the environment to attract investors, developing new investment tools, improving the legal framework, developing infrastructure for the bond market as well as the implementation of technical assistance programs to develop the domestic bond market in the region.

The Deputies reviewed the progress of future initiatives under the “Strategic Directions of ASEAN 3 Finance Process” aiming to enhance regional economic and financial stability, including: (1) Promoting LCY usage for trade and investment settlement, as well as payment connectivity, (2) Developing comprehensive initiative on infrastructure financing, (3) Designing more supporting facilities to help members better deal with macro-critical structural issues, (4) Exploring cooperation in the fields of mitigation and adaptation of climate change (i.e. SEADRIF), and (5) Enhancing policy coordination to harness benefits of technological advancement while minimizing risks.

In the informal session of AFCDM 3, the Deputies exchanged views and discussion on "Strategy, Action and Policy Perspectives against Covid-19 Pandemic" on the background of a policy paper made by AMRO.

The Deputies also updated their views on regional and country specific macroeconomic outlooks, as well as policy measures response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ASEAN 3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting has delivered a fruitful discussion. Its deliverables will be submitted to the Finance Ministers and the Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in September 2020 for endorsement and guidance for the ASEAN 3 financial cooperation in the coming years.

By Thuy Dung