On November 10, 2020, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), organized a Joint High-Level Conference themed “Securing Growth and Resilience in the ASEAN: Policies for the Post-COVID World”, which aimed to promote cooperation among ASEAN member states, as well as between ASEAN and the IMF, other international organizations and partners in finding solutions to promote growth recovery, enhance the resilience of the economy and take advantage of the changes and opportunities brought by COVID-19. The Conference was one of the activities on the sidelines of the 37th ASEAN Summit held in mid-November of 2020.
Attending the meeting there was H.E. Mr. Pham Binh Minh - Member of the Politburo, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government Office, the Central Economic Committee, the National Financial Supervisory Commission. On the international side, there was Mrs. Kristalina Georgieva - IMF Managing Director and representatives of several IMF’s Departments; the Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers of ASEAN countries; representatives of several international organizations, such as WB, ADB, AIIB, BIS, AMRO. The Conference was co-chaired by SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the Conference
Speaking at the Conference, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh welcomed the SBV and the IMF for their initiative to organize the Joint Conference to discuss and find possible policy solutions for the post-COVID period with the aim of ensuring growth and resilience in the ASEAN region. The Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized that the Conference was a practical and significant event organized right before the upcoming ASEAN Summit in mid-November. He expressed hopes that the Conference would provide valuable policy recommendations for ASEAN leaders to make appropriate decisions on helping to bring the region out of the crisis, enhancing the regional resilience, economic recovery and inclusive growth.
In her speech, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong expressed high evaluation for the IMF's robust cooperation with the ASEAN countries, and stressed that the ASEAN banking and finance sector plays an important role in implementing the solutions to promote growth recovery and enhance the regional economic resilience.
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong speaks at the Conference
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva expressed her admiration for the strong spirit of cooperation within ASEAN over the past years, as well as the highly responsive and adaptive capabilities of the ASEAN economies. For years, the world has admired the spirit of cooperation that defines the ASEAN Way. And in the process of overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, the ASEAN Way will continue being an inspiration to promote global cooperation and to build a better world.
After the opening session, the participants continued with a panel discussion about policy responses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The panelists in the discussion were SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Governor of the Bank of Thailand Sethaput Suthiwart-Narueput, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Ravi Menon.
The participants attending the virtual Conference at different broadcast points (screenshot)
The participants shared the comment that in order to respond effectively to the crisis, ASEAN countries should continue to maintain the current support policies, and direct assistance measures to target the most vulnerable groups such as young people, women, workers in the informal sector, micro and small enterprises. It was also agreed that the countries need to promote public investment, especially for important infrastructure projects, in order to accelerate the recovery process and enhance the resilience of the economy. In the medium term, the countries need to increase investment in improving the quality of the human resources, leveraging and accelerating the process of digitization, enhancing capacity to respond and adapt to climate change impacts, promoting green growth as well as ensuring broad accessibility to financial services for all, which are the foundation for sustainable and inclusive growth.
Representatives of the entities of the SBV and the IMF Office in Vietnam attending the Conference
Concluding the Conference, the participants agreed that COVID-19 has been the biggest challenge ever for ASEAN, but it has also opened up opportunities to promote regional cooperation and integration, economic restructuring towards sustainable and inclusive growth.
VA