44
FDC in Hoi An, Quang Nam in July. The event
attracted more than 200 delegates from APEC
economies, international development partners,
policymakers and experts from the public and
private sectors. The delegates therein recognized
initial results of APEC cooperation on financial
inclusion and were aware of challenges ahead
that the international community must continue
to face, and consequently discussed possible
responses. The discussions and experiences
shared at the Forum were particularly important
for the host country as well as other economies
those are still in primary stages in mapping their
financial inclusion strategies.
The proposed deliverables to report to APEC
Finance Ministers this year include: (i) Report
on APEC Cooperation under APEC Financial
Inclusion Forum with Policy Recommendations;
and (ii) Report on “The Role of Digital Payments
in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security”.
In the next few minutes, representatives from
FDC and BTCA will in turn brief you on the
contents of these two reports.
The 2nd event was the APEC Seminar on
Cross-Border Credit Information Exchange held
in Ninh Binh Province July 2017. The event took
place when cross-border credit information
exchange emerges as key issue for many APEC
and non-APEC economies, and also suits
Vietnam’s cooperation targets in the pace of
intensive globalization. The workshop’s topic
was designed on basis of outputs inherited from
the previous APEC events. The main contents
discussed at the workshop were: (i) the need
to promote cross-border credit information
FINANCIAL INCLUSION:
COOPERATIONORIENTATION INTHE COMINGTIME
DO THI THU HANG, PhD.*
Over the past year, APEC economies have worked closely, together with international organizations to
carry out practical and effective activities, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to deepen cooperation
in Financial Inclusion. The past achivements will create good basis for APEC economies to continously
cooperate in the coming time.
Keywords: Agricultural, development, policies, international organizations
I
n late 2016, after having consultation
with APEC economies and international
development partners, Vietnam proposed
that the main theme for APEC cooperation on
financial inclusion in 2017 shall cover sustainable
rural and agricultural development and be
deepened in the the areas of: (i) the need to
define appropriate scope of financial inclusion
which is consistent with the specific features
of each APEC economy; (ii) the application
of new Fintech, digital finance; responses to
the impact of the 4th industrial revolution;
(iii) the improvement of financial literacy and
education, consumer protection in support of
agricultural and rural development; (iv) the role
and experience in developing micro-insurance
scheme for agricultural and rural development;
development of micro-insurance roadmap
in developing economies; (v) experience in
developing rural development policies and
addressing challenges.
Over the past year, APEC economies have
worked closely, together with international
organizations to carry out practical and effective
activities, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to
deepen this cooperation. The focussed activities
are 3 big events hosted in Vietnam in coordination
with ABAC/FDC and the WB/IFC.
The first event was the 8th APEC Forum
on Financial Inclusion hosted by the State
Bank of Vietnam in collaboration with ABAC/
Received: November 7
th
, 2017
Revised: November 8
th
, 2017
Accepted for publication: November 31
st
, 2017
* Email:
