The 18th ASEAN Banking Conference and the 40th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting were
successfully held on 10-12 November 2010 at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia.
The theme of the conference was "Towards One ASEAN MARKET - Enhancing and
Strengthening the Collaboration among ASEAN Countries". This conference effectively
discussed the current issues and hot topics of the ASEAN banking community, including
those related to globalisation, business strategy & management, standards & regulations,
industry & technology trends, opportunities & challenges in boosting performance, potential
crises as well as strategic partnerships. This theme is in line with ASEAN's agenda in
approaching the year 2015, in which the ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Single
Market will be realised.
This year's conference was attended by a combination of banking regulators, executives and
experts from all the ASEAN countries - two prominent speakers that contributed to the
discussions were Dr. Raden Pardede and Mr. Soedradjad Djiwandono. The commitment of
all ASEAN countries was demonstrated by the fact that each delegation was represented by
banking executives from prominent banks in their respective countries.
In his remarks during the opening ceremony, the Chairman of ASEAN Bankers Association
(ABA), Dr. Pham Huy Hung, stated that this conference could act as a catalyst where
experiences and solutions can be shared by way of direct and indirect investments in member
countries when opportunities arise. As the ASEAN economy is in relatively good shape as
compared to the global situation, cross investments will help all members in creating a more
conducive environment for the development of the banking industry, especially Cambodia,
Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam ("CLMV") countries.
Deputy Governor Bank Indonesia, Mr. Halim Alamsyah, stated that besides giving benefits,
the integration of financial market also poses a challenge for ASEAN countries especially in
the current situation where there is a massive capital inflow to the emerging countries. He
added that this massive capital inflow has given rise to currency appreciation and reduced the
competitiveness of some ASEAN member countries' exports. In order to respond to the
situation, both the government and central banks of each country need to collaborate and
introduce measures to manage the capital inflow and exchange rates.
This sentiment is echoed by Mr. Sigit Pramono, Chairman of Indonesian Banks Association
(PERBANAS). Mr. Sigit Pramono also mentioned that one of the key challenges of the
Indonesian banks is the difficulties faced in penetrating into some ASEAN markets in view of
the complexity of the policies and regulations in the respective ASEAN countries.
This regulatory challenge was discussed comprehensively by many ASEAN Banking
stakeholders in the first panel discussion titled "Collaboration and Competition Issues in One
ASEAN Market from Business Models to Regulatory Instruments." According to the
panelists comprising banking executives from CML V, regulators of the ASEAN banks should
lead the top-down directions to expedite the development of common business models and
the support of a common regulatory platform.
The second panel discussed the topic on "Banking and Financial Industry Trends in One
ASEAN Market from the Perspectives of Various Stakeholders". The key trends are: New
Market Players Dynamics, Growth, The Post Crisis Customers, New Technology Agenda,
The Race for Differentiation. Panelists from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
also discussed about the emerging growth of the super-regional banks.
Following the conference is the main agenda of this event, which is the ASEAN Banking
Council's meetings of the three permanent committees: - Cooperation in Finance Investment
and Trade (COFIT), ASEAN Inter-Regional Relations (IRR) and Banking Education. Each of
these meetings was attended by representatives of the ABA members.
The 40th ASEAN Banking Council Meeting was held on 12th November 2010, and the
following key programs were adopted for implementation in 2010/2011 : -
1. Committee on Cooperation in Finance, Investment and Trade (COFIT) :
COFIT members proposed issuing a Joint Letter from all the ten National Banking
Associations to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to express
banks' concerns on the impact of Basel IlIon Trade Finance.
2. Committee on ASEAN Inter-Regional Relations fIRR) :
The IRR proposed looking into the feasibility of getting feedback and comments on
common banking issues affecting the ASEAN banking industry to be raised on a
consolidated basis to ASEAN regulators 1 Central Banks. The Council agreed that the
proposal will be pursued by the ABA Secretariat.
3. Committee on Banking Education:
The Committee will continue to support the one-to-one mentoring programme
(country to country) and offer the existing online course on SME risk-based lending.
The 41 st ASEAN Banking Council Meeting will be held in 2011 in Lao PDR, and will be
hosted by Lao Bankers' Association.