Financial Cooperation with Regional and Global Countries Strengthened

 

According to the IMF, after six years of global financial crisis, the world economy continued to face with uncertain and uneven economic prospects, growth pace slower then forecasts, increased risk and high unemployment and inequality rate. IMF predicted the world economy in 2014 would grow by 3.3 percent, this figure would rise to 3.8 percent in 2015, However, Managing Director of IMF Christine Lagarde also gave warning that “the world economy continues to face short-term risks such as stagnant growth, geo-political unrest in the world, the epidemic in Africa and the vulnerability of financial markets.” There were also medium-term risks including the decline trend in global economy, the low growth forecast in developed countries and the decline in growth in emerging markets.

 

Facing such risks, the IMF said that growth should be placed as top priority. In developed countries, flexible adjustment in coordination between monetary policy and fiscal policy was necessary to support the economic recovery and growth in the long term. Increasing public investment in infrastructure could help support aggregate demand in the short term and boost output in the medium term. As for emerging countries, macroeconomic policy space to support growth would be varied but limited in countries vulnerable to external. However, issue of structural reform was an urgent demand for both groups, developed and developing, in order to promote growth and support sustainable growth.

 

Within ASEAN group, the Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Finance of member countries had a discussion with the IMF Managing Director and met with the US Deputy Minister of the Treasury. The parties discussed the macroeconomic situation of the world and the region, the prospects of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, the operation enhancement and role strengthening of the US Treasury Department and IMF in the ASEAN integration process and the enhancement of institutional capacity of ASEAN.

 

The ASEAN Finance Ministers also spoke about the regional economic outlook and the progress of forming the ASEAN Economic Community 2015, according to which ASEAN was pouring great efforts to be able to finish the AEC 2015 on schedule by 12/2015. ASEAN was also forming direction as well as content, roadmap and initiatives for the AEC after 2015. The AEC vision post-2015 would continue the direction of transforming ASEAN into a stable and prosperous region with competitiveness going hand in hand with even economic development, poverty and socio-economic injustice eradication.

 

Within the framework of ASEAN+3 financial cooperation channels, the Finance Ministers of ASEAN+3 participated in the formal signing ceremony of the agreement establishing the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) into an international organization. Aiming to become an international organisation, AMRO was expected to grow into an ASEAN+3 economic and financial watchdog and an organisation coordinating the multilateral financial safety network of ASEAN+3-the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM).

 

On the sidelines of the conference, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung had bilateral meetings with the Vice President of the World Bank, JICA Vice President to discuss Vietnam’s loan projects with those two organisations as well as loan strategies and plans in the future when switching from ODA loans to IBRD loans. In addition, the Deputy Minister also had meetings with international credit rating agencies such as Moody, S&P, Fitch to update Vietnam’s macroeconomic situation and policy prospects, as well as to consider raising credit rating of Vietnam in the coming time.

 

The 2015 IMF/WB annual meeting will be held in the city of Lima, Peru.