Indonesia expects ASEAN continuous growth
Badung, The Gulf Observer: Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Agency Head, concurrently the ASEAN Finance Deputy to Indonesia, Febrio Kacaribu expects the ASEAN region to continue to grow above four percent this year and remain attractive for investment.
“For that to be achieved, strengthening efforts on cooperation, collaboration, and interstate coordination among ASEAN countries should be carried out,” Kacaribu remarked during the ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (AFCDM), as quoted from an official statement obtained here, Friday.
The ministry, along with Bank Indonesia (BI), organized AFCDM on Thursday (Mar 30) in Bali as a part of the first ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (1st AFMGM) series of meetings.
According to Kacaribu, Indonesian Chairmanship of ASEAN this year is an important momentum for Indonesia to demonstrate its key role in the region, especially in making ASEAN the global epicentrum of growth.
Indonesia is confident that its chairmanship theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth” is a good representation of the region’s resilience amid global uncertainties, such as inflation, disruption on supply chain, geopolitical crisis, and the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the same occasion, Deputy Governor of BI Dody Waluyo highlighted the ASEAN’s need to intensify policy coordination in supporting economic recovery, encouraging development, and improving financial stability.
“ASEAN needs to bolster its synergy and collectively implement policies with regard to economic recovery and development, digital economy, and sustainable finance,” Waluyo affirmed.
In addition, he emphasized the importance of conducting comprehensive assessments in order to strengthen cooperation among ASEAN countries in tackling potential future challenges.
Earlier, on Mar 28-30, three other meetings were successfully held: ASEAN Finance Deputies Meeting (AFDM), ASEAN Central Bank Deputies Meeting (ACDM), and ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting + 3 (AFCDM+3).
The AFCDM was held with three main agendas: the agreement on the adoption of discussion agenda and series of activity arrangements, the talk on ASEAN chairmanship priority in the financial channel, the report on ASEAN’s financial integration and road map for financial and monetary integration including other related agendas, and also the preparation of the first meeting of Finance Ministries and ASEAN Central Bank Governors as the main event of the series.
As for financial matters, the AFCDM discussed three priorities: Local Currency Transaction (LCT) and cross-border payment, cooperation in the fields of finance and health, and also food resilience.
The aforementioned three priorities, along with other agendas will be discussed within three strategic thrusts, i.e., recovery-rebuilding, digitalization, and sustainability.
Results of the meetings will be presented as inputs to the 1st AFMGM main event that will take place on Mar 31.
The agendas being discussed are expected to provide a concrete step from which the ASEAN countries can benefit.
