Fintech a tool to boost integration: ASEAN meet

Financial technology (fintech) should be used to strengthen regional integration and promote inclusive and sustainable development, speakers said at the 47th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting in Da Nang on November 24.
Fintech a tool to boost integration: ASEAN meet ảnh 1Members of ASEAN Banking Association pose for a photo at the 47th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting in Da Nang (Photo: VNA)
Da Nang (VNA) - Financial technology (fintech) should be used tostrengthen regional integration and promote inclusive and sustainabledevelopment, speakers said at the 47th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting in Da Nangon November 24.

Nguyen Thi Hong, Deputy Governor of theState Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said ASEAN members should seek new opportunitiesand linkages in finance and banking.

She also called for strong connectionsbetween the private sector and governments, as also commercial banks withbusinesses in ASEAN.

Banking systems in the region shouldstrongly boost financial integration and build effective links with businessesfor solidarity and prolonged cooperation to realise the 2025 ASEAN EconomicCommunity vision, she said.

ASEAN central bank governors had contributeda lot to financial integration in the region through the ASEAN BankingIntegration Framework (ABIF) initiative, she added.

Hong said the initiative helped boost theintroduction of commercial banks into the ASEAN financial market and facilitatednegotiations of Qualified ASEAN Banks (QABs).

She hoped ASEAN banks would take fulladvantage of technology to generate maximum benefit and make the banking systemsecure.

“ASEAN Banking now plays a very importantrole in boosting economic growth, while ensuring well-managed operations andsustainable development of the banking system in coping with risks,” Hong said.

“We need to restructure our banking systemto provide better services with modern and updated technology applications inthe context of the Internet boom and the Fourth Revolution.

“The growth of financial technology(fintech) has helped create new services and supported trans-border paymentsamong partners,” she said.

But fintech had also created pressure andtough competition among bankers, she added.

She said the SBV and other central banks inthe region had shared experiences in fintech management.

Faid Raham, Chairman of ASEAN BankersAssociation (ABA), said many follow-up events and activities had been carriedout by national bank associations since the last meeting in Bangkok.

These enabled and strengthened the role ofASEAN banks in the ASEAN Economic Community, he said.

He highly appreciated efforts made by Vietnamto successfully host the 47th ASEAN Banking Association meeting.

ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said:“Integration in the financial sector is envisaged under the firstcharacteristic of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 – a highlyintegrated and cohesive economy which aims to facilitate the seamless movementof goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labour within ASEAN toenhance trade and production networks as well as to establish a more unifiedmarket for firms and consumers in the region.

“Under the AEC Blueprint 2025, ASEAN hasdeveloped the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan 2016 – 2025 for FinancialIntegration, highlighting three key pillars: financial integration, financialinclusion, and financial stability.”

He said "the establishment ofQualified ASEAN Banks (QABs) is a critical milestone for ASEAN toward achievinggreater financial and economic integration".

ASEAN now ranks as the world’s 6th largesteconomy, with a current combined GDP of approximately 2.6 trillion USD, and thethird largest market with a combined population of 640 million people.

Minh also noted: “The implementation of theASEAN Banking Integration Framework and ASEAN Financial Inclusion Framework hastaken into account the diversity of economic structures and levels ofdevelopment across the ASEAN Member States.

“We are committed to an ASEAN paymentsystem that is safe, innovative, competitive, efficient and more interconnectedas specified in the 2016-2025 Strategic Action Plan 2016-2025 for FinancialIntegration.  ASEAN is also aiming toachieve international standards by adopting ISO 20022 as a preparation for thedomestic payment systems for bilateral/ multilateral linkages within ASEAN by2025.”

Vietnam’s contribution

Chairman of the Vietnam Banks Association(VNBA), Phan Duc Tu, said it’s the third time that Vietnam was hosting theASEAN Banking Council after 2000 and 2007.

Tu said this meeting was focused onsustainable development, inclusion, updated technology application and humanresource training in finance sector.

He said ABIF also offered three stages ofdevelopment including an ASEAN common market for banking between 2015-2020.Members had been negotiating bilateral QABs before they were recognised by thebloc, he said, citing the examples of Philippines-Malaysia, Indonesia-Malaysia,and Thailand-Malaysia.

He said Vietnamese commercial banks hadimproved their management mechanisms and expanded their presence abroad.

Ten Vietnamese commercial banks had beenselected for applying Basel II (second of the Basel Accords, recommendations onbanking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on BankingSupervision) in early 2018, he added.

VNBA general secretary Nguyen Toan Thang saidABA had agreed to two proposals made by Vietnam in the agenda of Cooperation inFinance, Investment and Trade (COFIT): financial inclusion and bank credit forMicro- Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Vietnam and ABA co-hosted a seminar ondigital infrastructure development for banks and boosting cooperation with theSingapore Banks Association for sharing experiences in management and personneltraining.

The 47th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting, anannual event, gathered 200 participants from the member nations of Brunei,Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam.

Brunei will host the next meeting. - VNA
VNA

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