Senior representatives of  central banks of Asean states gather for a group photo during a recent meeting in Luang Prabang province.

Asean central banks to promote efficiency of regional payments

The central banks of Asean states will promote connectivity, efficiency and security for cross-country payments using QR codes.
The 25th Asean Central Banks’ Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (WC-PSS), which was held in Luang Prabang province recently, also framed a roadmap for  cooperation priorities in 2023.
Senior representatives from Asean nations participated in the meeting, which highlighted the WC-PSS’s achievements related to key performance indicators. They also reviewed the integrity of Asean’s finance sector.
The meeting allowed the participants to hear reviews of implementation plans of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) until 2025. They discussed the WC-PSS’s plans for next year, and evaluated the readiness indicators for Asean electronic payments and the progress of the Asean payment integration system.
A seminar on technical exchanges was held for the Asean member states, which mainly focused on the expansion of security and the efficiency of service providers for payments.
During the same meeting, the representatives from Asean states held consultations on the preparation of the formal report on the process of works implemented by WC-PSS. This report will be presented at the meeting of the Asean Senior Level Committee (SLC) to be held in Singapore on October 18.
The meeting of the WC-PSS was co-chaired by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The Deputy Director of Payment Systems Policy Department of the Bank of Thailand, Mr Pariwat Kanithasen, and the Deputy Director of the Payment Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, Mr Le Anh Dung, represented the two countries.
The Director General of the Payment System Supervision Department at the Bank of Lao PDR, Mr Soulisack Thamnouvong, attended the daylong meeting. This meeting was also partially held via virtual conference.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update October 4, 2022)