At the event (Photo source: Antara)

Jakarta - As part of the first ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting (AFMGM) held from March 28-31 in Bali, the host country Indonesia 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 Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo, the meetings discussed a range of important issues related to the ASEAN region, including digital economy and digital finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), payment systems and their connectivity, sustainable finance, ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, food security and ASEAN health fund.

Governor Perry affirmed the important role of ASEAN in the global economy, saying that along with the development of information technology, 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 system connectivity, which is a follow-up of the joint agreement of five ASEAN central banks in November 2022 within the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) framework.

For her part, Finance Minister Indrawati stressed that apart from digital transformation, economic growth must be inclusive and sustainable. In an effort to achieve a low-carbon economy, ASEAN has launched the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance version 2, which is the first taxonomy in the world 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 occasion, ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors welcomed the promotion of cooperation between ASEAN countries and the US ABC, EU ABC, and ASEAN ABAC to support trade, investment, and strengthen the ASEAN economic structure to be the epicentrum of growth for the world.