Finance ministers tackle cooperation among Asean countries

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Finance ministers and central bank governors from member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) discussed on Friday strategies to build on gains achieved in previous years toward regional financial integration by 2025.

The event – 3rd Asean Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Joint Meeting – was held at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in this city..

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said recent global and regional developments offered Asean both opportunities and challenges in its pursuit of greater financial integration.

“Given this role, the items we’ll discuss today (are) key performance indicators for Asean financial integration, the risk monitoring template proposed by the senior-level committee, and other updates on the enhancement of the Chiang Mai Initiative multi-lateralization, which are all geared towards enhancing the region’s surveillance capacity and ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability,” Tetangco said.

He added that they would also see the increasing role of financial technology development in the integration process and how it could reshape the delivery of traditional financial services.

“While we encourage innovations, we are also cognizant of challenges related to cyber security,” he said.

The inaugural meeting of the body was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015, as part of its preparations for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) which went into full swing two years ago.

Tetangco said the body then renewed its commitment for the next stage, which is AEC 2025, and has been instrumental in setting up the direction for the region in the next 10 years and providing guidance on how it reach the goal of financial integration in 2025.

“We established a working group on financial inclusion as we recognized its importance in accelerating financial integration and inclusive growth,” he said.

During the 2nd Asean Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Joint Meeting in Vientiane, Laos in 2016, the ministerial body endorsed strategic action plans for AEC 2025, especially focused on key pillars of financial integration, inclusion, and stability.

Embedded into these plans, Tetangco said, were various supporting initiatives on banking insurance, capital market development, capital accounts liberalization, payment and settlement systems, and infrastructure financing, among others.

The group also confirmed its support for the Asean integration monitoring activity as well as the ASEAN +3 macroeconomic research office to ensure constant monitoring and surveillance of risks in the region.

For his part, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said this week’s meetings had truly been a testament to Asean’s commitment to partner for change and to engage the world.

During the joint meeting, the body was briefed by partner international financial institutions on the global and regional outlook as well as discussed the respective progress in the AEC blueprint and roadmap for monetary and financial inclusion.

Dominguez said they also touched on results of the Asean Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar and amendments to Annex 1 of the Asean Charter.

Separately, finance ministers from Asean member states also met earlier on Friday to talk about the progress of the Asean finance cooperation. /atm