ASEAN finalizes banking integration framework agreement
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has finalized a banking integration framework that will allow its banks to enter into joint bilateral agreements.
"This is a major step forward. For post-2015, we have plans for the major areas that we are going to elaborate on to advance this integration," Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of Malaysia's central bank, told reporters on Saturday.
Under the Banking Integration Framework (ABIF), ASEAN banks can sign bilateral deals to operate in the partner-country on the same terms as domestic financial institutions, Zeti added.
"By having these banks facilitated, we are able to intermediate funds from one country to finance productive investment in another country," Zeti explained.
Zeti said the agreement will help to deepen trade and investment links to "unlock potential growth" in the region.
She noted that inter-regional trade accounts for over a quarter of ASEAN's trade.
Zeti noted that the central banks of Malaysia and Indonesia have already signed a deal under ABIF.
The ABIF framework, which was finalized at a meeting of ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, was endorsed for the first time in December 2014.
To protect their domestic banking industry, ASEAN states have imposed restrictions on foreign banks.
ASEAN includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
DB/NN/HMV
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