Jakarta (ANTARA) - The 25th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM+3) was held virtually on May 12, 2022, to discuss regional policy strategy and response for confronting current global risks and challenges.

In a joint statement, the AFMGM+3, under the leadership of Cambodia and China, stated that the ASEAN+3 financial cooperation is playing an important role in supporting the region's economy.

The finance ministers also agreed to bolster collaboration through the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), and ASEAN+3 Future Initiatives.

During the meeting, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati outlined three aspects that every nation should pay attention to while formulating policies for handling current challenges, according to a statement issued on Friday.

The three aspects comprise protecting vulnerable groups, maintaining the economic recovery momentum, and restoring the fiscal instrument's power.

To boost regional financial cooperation, the minister called for strengthening AMRO as an institution that monitors and evaluates the stability of the macroeconomy in the region.

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"AMRO also plays an important role in providing recommendations in the decision-making process concerning the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), which is a finance stability safety-net facility in the region," she remarked.

Thus, an improvement in terms of inclusive human resources, with the support of every member country, has become important.

With this, AMRO can provide more credible policy inputs and recommendations to nations in the region.

Indrawati also lauded the effort of ASEAN+3 in developing Future Initiatives for handling issues related to infrastructure financing, macro instruments, disaster insurance, fintech, digital finance, and climate change.

She also welcomed the transition finance initiative.

"This effort will not be easy and cheap. Hence, cooperation on designing an effective and credible mechanism, especially for transition finance, has become critical," the minister remarked.

"We welcome the initiative from ASEAN+3, and we will also participate along with other international organizations, such as ADB (Asian Development Bank), through bilateral cooperation," she added.

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Translator: Sanya Dinda S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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