At the event (Photo: Antara)

Jakarta (VNA) – As part of the first ASEAN Finance Ministers and CentralBank Governors' Meeting (AFMGM) held from March 28-31 in Bali, the host countryIndonesia organised AFMGMs with the ASEAN-US Business Council (ASEAN-US ABC),the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU ABC), and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council(ASEAN ABAC) on March 29.

Under the co-chairmanship of Indonesian FinanceMinister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo, themeetings discussed a range of important issues related to the ASEAN region,including digital economy and digital finance for micro, small, andmedium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), payment systems and their connectivity,sustainable finance, ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, food security and ASEANhealth fund.

Governor Perry affirmed the important role ofASEAN in the global economy, saying that along with the development of informationtechnology, ASEAN is carrying out digital transformation to continue to encourage economic growth, which is in line with the digitalisation pillar of Indonesia's Chairmanship in ASEAN.   

Perry also introduced the ASEAN region's initiative on payment systemconnectivity, which is a follow-up of the joint agreement of five ASEAN central banks in November2022 within the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) framework.

For herpart, Finance Minister Indrawati stressed that apart from digitaltransformation, economic growth must be inclཧusive and sustainable. In aneffort to achieve a low-carbon economy, ASEAN has launched the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance version 2, which is the first taxonomy in the wo𝄹rld that has accommodated the energy transition based on the activity categories which are channeled to eligibility for funding.

She also conveyed the need to strengthen collaboration in the health and financial sectors by all parties in ASEAN, both for government and private sector, as an effort to deal with potential health crises in the future.

On the occas⛄ion,ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Baᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnk Governors welcomed the promotion ofcooperation between ASEAN countries and the US ABC, EU ABC, and ASEAN ABAC tosupport trade, investment, and strengthen the ASEAN economic structure to be the epicentrum of growth for the world./.