Bankers seek preferential treatment
NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Southeast Asian bankers are asking for preferential treatment from their governments to enable them to benefit from the growth of financial services in the region.
The call was one of the resolutions adopted by the Association of ASEAN Bankers at the conclusion of its three-day meeting yesterday.
Tay Kah Chye, the secretary-general of the association, said that preferential treatment was essential to give regional banks additional strength prior to the liberalization of the banking industry.
He said that regional banks should, for example, be given priority in financing infrastructure projects in each of the ASEAN countries. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is comprised of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
To the same end, he said, the governments of ASEAN countries should also give wider access to the banks of other member- countries to enter the banking industry in their own countries.
"Such an arrangement is important to enable the regional banks to compete with those from the developed nations in the globalization era," Tay told a press briefing at the end of the annual meeting.
The bankers' council, which also discussed cooperation programs approved at its meeting in Cebu, the Philippines, last year, failed, however, to achieve a consensus on a common strategic alliance in facing the globalization of financial services in the coming years.
"It is up to each bank on how to formulate its strategy in responding to the globalization trend," said Tay, who was accompanied by Iwan R. Prawiranata, the chairman of the federation of Indonesian banks' associations and Salahuddin N. Kaoy, the president of the state-owned Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia.
Resolutions
He said that the meeting's resolutions on the promotion of bilateral cooperation in fields such as treasury and correspondent banking would be strong enough to enable the banks to meet global competition.
"If the intra-ASEAN trade financing is all handled by regional banks, rather than those from outside ASEAN, the domestic banks will still be able to survive even in the liberalized market," he said.
The association will organize next year a number of workshops on the correspondent and treasury systems in each ASEAN member country, Iwan said.
In addition to the call for preferential treatment and the promotion of treasury and correspondent banking, the meeting also endorsed the appointment of Wong Nang Jang, the chief of the Association of Banks in Singapore, as the chairman of the ASEAN Bankers' Association and its council for the 1995-1997 period, replacing Rafael B. Buenaventura of the Philippines.
Indonesia's Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said he shared the concerns of the bankers about the negative impact of the liberalization of financial services, which are now being negotiated within the framework of the World Trade Organization.
In his speech, which was delivered by Director General for Financial Institutions Bambang Subianto, the minister urged the ASEAN financial community to take the steps necessary in facing the globalization of financial services.
"On the basis of the spirit of ASEAN and in line with the multilateral commitment, cooperation among ASEAN bankers is a must," he added.
He said that Indonesia's banking industry had been gradually reformed to meet to stimulate the growth of business activity and, at the same time, to improve the country's economic resilience against the impact of global economic and monetary developments. (hen)