Hong Nam-ki at ASEAN+3 Finance Meeting: "Strengthening Regional Finance, Supply, and Quarantine Safety Nets"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated on the 3rd at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) + 3 (Korea, China, Japan) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting that "it is necessary to strengthen regional financial, supply, and quarantine safety nets," according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong first said, "We must enhance the accessibility and crisis response posture of the 'Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization' (CMIM) to effectively respond to future regional financial instability." CMIM is a multilateral currency swap arrangement launched in March 2010 to support liquidity crisis prevention and resolution among ASEAN+3 member countries.

Hong also emphasized, "Strengthening the regional supply safety net, which plays a pivotal role in the global value chain (GVC), will contribute not only to economic recovery but also to the restoration of an open and rules-based global economic trade and investment system." Furthermore, he added, "It is necessary to share information and technology related to quarantine and cooperate for equitable vaccine distribution to strengthen the regional health safety net."

On the same day, Hong evaluated, "ASEAN+3 has developed into a close cooperative partner that promotes regional prosperity beyond economic cooperation by overcoming the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the global financial crisis in 2008 together." He proposed, "Taking this COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity, let us solidify regional economic and financial cooperation and strengthen policy coordination for economic structural transformation and leap forward."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong co-chaired the 24th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held via video conference in the morning, jointly with Brunei.

The member countries exchanged views on recent economic trends, forecasts, and policy responses to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, while urging the early implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which was finally signed last November.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.