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The 18th ASEAN Banking Conference and 40th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting will be held in 2010 in Indonesia.

The 17th ASEAN Banking Conference and 38th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting were held in Brunei Darussalam from 5th to 7th November 2008 at The Empire Hotel.

This is the first time The Brunei Association of Banks is hosting the Conference and the Council Meeting and this marks a historical event. Every two years, the ASEAN Bankers Association organizes this conference. It is a platform for bankers from domestic and foreign banks operating in ASEAN to participate and share their experiences and knowledge.

The theme of the Conference was " The impact of the US Sub Prime Crisis and Inflation on ASEAN Economies". It was very well attended with more than 200 bankers, including ambassadors from members of ASEAN countries.

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN DATU SINGAMANTERI COLONEL (R) DATO SERI PADUKA HAJI MOHAMMAD YASMIN BIN HAJI UMAR ACTING MINISTER OF FINANCE II DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE of Brunei, was the Guest of Honour and delivered the keynote address at the official opening ceremony of the Conference and Council Meeting.

He noted the timeliness and the Conference's theme relevance against the back drop of the current financial crisis. He referred to this as a wake up call for developed economies to move away from culture of debt and the need and swift interventions of governments in the free markets. He further noted central banks in the region learned the necessity to guard against currency meltdown post 1997 crisis and urged financial sector to be prudent, strongly capitalized, to act responsibly in the long term interest and stability of our institutions and economy. He also commented that transparency is the key to the integrity and proper market conduct of financial institutions.


Mr Glen Rase, Chairman of The Brunei Association of Banks and Country Corporate Officer for Citibank NA, Brunei, in his welcoming remarks, extended a warm welcome to all the guests. He highlighted that this is the first time Brunei is hosting the event and wished the meetings success. He also looked forward to receiving new initiatives and proposals from participants on how banks in ASEAN could co-operate to overcome the turmoil as a result of the global financial crisis.

Mr Apisak Tantivorawong, Chairman of The ASEAN Bankers Association who is also the Chairman of The Thai Bankers’ Association and President of Krung Thai Bank, delivered the opening remarks. He thanked The Brunei Association of Banks for hosting the event and arranging an interesting program for the participants. He also thanked the various guest speakers for taking their time to share their knowledge and views on the likely impact the global financial crisis on ASEAN. He hoped that this gathering will provide a useful forum for sharing, finding ways to alleviate current crisis in the spirit of joint co-operation.

There were three Plenary Sessions. Guest speaker for Plenary Session I was Olivier de Grivel, Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions Group, Asia Pacific from J P Morgan. He spoke on "The Risk of Contagion : US Sub Prime Crisis and its impact on ASEAN Economics". Guest speakers for Plenary Session II were Chan Kok Peng ,Chief Economist (South East Asia) from BNP Paribas and Robert Prior-Wandesforde, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific from HSBC. Mr Chan spoke on " From Inflation to deflation : impact of the deleveraging cycle” and Mr Wandesforde spoke on " Asian worries rising-A look at the region's growth prospects”

This was followed by lively panelist discussions among the three guest speakers and senior bankers from some of the ten nations in ASEAN. They deliberated on the above topics and shared their views on how some of the Asian economies and banks can overcome some of these issues.

The three ABA Permanent Committees held their respective meetings on 6th November 2008 to review their past programs and proposed new initiatives for the new year.

The 38th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting was held on 7th November 2008 and, the following key programs were adopted for implementation in 2008/2009:-

1. Committee on Finance, Investment and Trade (COFIT) :

a) Operation Risk Sub-committee
The Loss Data Consortium Task force proposed to continue its efforts to complete the Feasibility Study and to submit its report and recommendation at the next ASEAN Banking Council Meeting in 2009.

b) Co-operation in Trade Finance among ASEAN banks.

c) ASEAN Infrastructure Development Financing Fund -- Vietnam agreed to host the first meeting by the first quarter next year to look into interest and viability of such an initiative.

2. Committee on Inter-Regional Relations :

a) Based on members’ poll, the Committee will coordinate a liaison and study mission to either Australia or Europe in the later part of 2009.

b) The Committee also proposed that the ASEAN Banking Council made a representation to the ASEAN Governments to endorse the model to be developed by Thailand and Laos to facilitate foreign workers’ salary remittances for all ASEAN countries remittances into the formal banking channels.

3. Committee on Banking Education:
The committee will continue to support the one-to-one mentoring program. Some of the course materials will be made available by way of DVD /VCD for newer members. The association will continue to publish NBA initiatives in its publication.


The 39th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the 3rd week of November 2009 and will be hosted by The Association of Banks in Cambodia.