The continuous downward revision of the global economic outlook is a real risk faced by major economies, including those in Southeast Asia. It is thus imperative that members of Asean+3 continue to work together to establish an “effective, credible, and trustable financial safety net”, said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia’s Finance Minister.
Compared with the global fragmented geopolitical situation, Asean+3 has become “a beacon of ongoing commitment to form deeper economic integration and financial cooperation”, she said at a keynote speech at the inaugural Asean+3 Economic Cooperation and Financial Stability Forum. “This can strengthen our resiliency and the sustainability of our performance on the economic front.”
Asean+3 refers to the 10 members of the Association of South-east Asian nations and China, Japan and South Korea.
The forum, organised by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro), was established as an annual flagship event to share views on global and regional economic and financial developments.
In particular, Asean+3 needs to work on simultaneously strengthening existing initiatives – such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) – while expanding regional collaboration on areas such as sustainable finance, transition finance, financial digitalisation, fintech, as well as cross-border payments.
The Chiang Mai Initiative is the first regional currency swap arrangement launched by Asean+3 in May 2000 and was started to manage regional short-term liquidity issues.
The second keynote speaker, Thai Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, also picked up on the importance of deepening regional financial cooperation.
He called the current economic landscape a “wake-up call” for the region. In particular, developing an ecosystem that is supportive of the digital economy and sustainable financing will be “new priorities” for regional financial cooperation, he said.
“It is undeniable that payment and remittance services are at the forefront of digital finance. Therefore, we should cooperate and promote payment linkages among Asean+3 members to facilitate trade and investment, tourism, workers’ remittances, as well as people-to-people connectivity which will eventually promote financial inclusion in the region,” he said.
Separately, efforts to promote sustainable development will require tremendous financial resources, more than any government budget or private pledges, said Arkhom. Rather, it requires partnership among the different stakeholders.
“Asean+3 can be the forum to foster such partnerships, he said. “The brainstorming and collaboration under this network can lead to a proliferation of ideas which could in turn lead to more efficient and tangible outcomes in both key areas.”
Source: The Business Times
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<p>Time: 2024 By: Ministry of Industry and Trade</p>
