PM requests stronger efforts to ensure comprehensive, equitable financial access

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the second meeting of the National Steering Committee for Financial Inclusion in Hanoi on March 12. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged greater effort to effectively implement the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to 2025 with a vision until 2030, towards ensuring inclusive, comprehensive, and equitable financial access while chairing the second meeting of the National Steering Committee for Financial Inclusion in Hanoi on March 12.

PM Chinh, who is also head of the steering committee, highlighted the significance of the strategy for the country's socio-economic development, saying that it enables individuals and businesses to access essential financial resources and services for development, improving living standards of the people, and promoting savings and investment.

The strategy contributes to bringing significant benefits to the society and economy, including fostering economic growth, reducing inequality, ensuring financial stability, and promoting sustainable development, importantly contributing to advancing the Party and State’s policies on social progress and equity.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (C) chairs the second meeting of the National Steering Committee for Financial Inclusion in Hanoi on March 12. (Photo: VNA)

The PM applauded the steering committee, ministries, sectors, localities, and relevant agencies for actively implementing the five key task groups of the strategy to advance individuals and businesses' access to finance, especially efforts to ensure equitable financial access for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, and those in remote areas, amid global economic and financial fluctuations, natural disasters, and pandemics.

He also pointed out existing challenges that need to be addressed, including expanding financial services in rural, remote, and disadvantaged areas; and improving the legal framework to facilitate the development of modern, convenient, and secure financial products and services.

The PM underlined the need to further improve financial infrastructure facilities and promote connections among them to build a cohesive ecosystem for providing financial products and services across economic sectors; step up solutions to ensure safety and information security; and boost communication and educational efforts to raise public awareness of financial understanding and practical skills.

He urged further refining the legal framework to ensure a transparent and fair environment; strictly managing, promoting development of and controlling services in the digital environment; and developing synchronised, comprehensive, and inclusive finance and IT infrastructures across the country, especially in remote, border, and island areas; and strongly promoting cashless payments by implementing tailored roadmaps and strategies for each region, sector, and entity.

PM Chinh directed all sectors, and relevant stakeholders to demonstrate high determination and great effort, take decisive actions to ensure that each task is fully completed. He also called for close collaboration and mutual support among ministries, sectors and localities in this work, as well as the allocation of necessary resources for the strategy.

Financial inclusion should be implemented through digital platforms and fintech, with technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data playing a crucial role in creating new financial products and services, streamlining processes, reducing costs, expanding access, and improving the service quality, he stressed.

The PM stated that attention should be also paid to mobilising domestic and international resources and support; and learning from other countries’ experience; and actively integrating into and extensively participating in international cooperation frameworks for financial inclusion to increase the capacity to implement innovative initiatives, adopt good practices, and support the implementation of the strategy.

According to the steering committee, after five years of implementation, the tasks and solutions of the strategy have been actively implemented. The legal framework has been continuously improved, with 8 laws, 11 decrees, and 10 decisions issued. Financial service providers and distribution channels have developed reasonably, achieving over 15 bank branches or transaction offices per 100,000 people and more than 32% of communes and towns equipped with financial service points.

Basic financial products and services aimed at the key beneficiaries of financial inclusion have been significantly enhanced. The value of cashless payment transactions has increased by more than 34%, with many public areas achieving 100% online and cashless payments. In addition, the financial infrastructure has continued to be improved, with increased efficiency in IT systems and customer data management.

PM Chinh showed his belief that with great efforts, high determination, proactive innovation, and close coordination among ministries, sectors, localities, and relevant agencies, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy will continue to be effectively implemented in the coming time./.