PM Phuc attends IMF-WB annual meetings in Bali

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc joins the leaders of other ASEAN member states at the opening ceremony of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank (WB) Group.

The event brought together finance ministers and central bank governors of 189 member countries of IMF and WB, leaders of international organisations, representatives of enterprises and social organisations, and researchers across the globe.

Themed “Harnessing disruption to shape inclusive economies of the future”, the annual meetings discussed emerging issues in the global economy, including the impact of trade wars on international and regional economic growth prospects, financial and monetary policy coordination, the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on economic growth, financial stability, employment, and social equality and progress.

At the event, the IMF released the World Economic Outlook Update, forecasting a global economic growth rate of 3.7% in 2018 and 2019 due to the growth slowdown in some key economies under the influence of the tightened monetary policy in the US, escalating trade tensions, and increasing oil prices.

Addressing the event, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and WB Group President Jim Yong Kim called on countries to improve resilience in their economies, boost structural reforms, support multilateralism, combat protectionism, augment global cooperation, reduce global imbalances, and make the best of the Industry 4.0 to serve sustainable, equal, and inclusive development.

The same day, PM Phuc returned to Hanoi, rounding off his trip for the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering on the occasion of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) and his working visit to Indonesia over October 11-12.

In his speech at ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering, PM Phuc proposed the UN, the IMF and the WB to work together with ASEAN and Vietnam to seep up the implementation of outcomes of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018 (WEF ASEAN), especially the business environment harmony mechanism, the national incubator connectivity framework, and connectivity on education systems and building of life-long learning systems in ASEAN countries.

He suggested the IMF and the WB cooperate with and give advice to ASEAN member states in building a regional macroeconomic risk warning mechanism so as to improve self-reliance capacity and adaptation of the ASEAN economy.

The Vietnamese government leader also asked them to continue helping the regional grouping with infrastructure development, early disaster warning and climate change response, narrowing development gaps, especially in digital gap, technology research and application, institutional reform and high-quality human resources training in order to seize opportunities from the fourth Industrial Revolution.

During his working visit to Indonesia, PM Phuc and President Joko Widodo, consented to turn economic cooperation into a main pillar of the Vietnam-Indonesia Strategic Partnership to bring two-way trade to US$10 billion in the time ahead.

The PM’s visit affirmed that Vietnam is an active and responsible member of ASEAN and showed the country’s high regard for the world’s major multilateral institutions as well as the strategic partnership with Indonesia, thus helping to raise Vietnam’s regional and international profile.