The IBEC delegation took part in the 16th meeting of the Working group on interbank cooperation of the intergovernmental Russian-Vietnamese Commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation

The IBEC Chairman of the Board D. Ivanov and the member of the Board Thinh Thi Hong took part in the 16th meeting of the Working group on interbank cooperation of the intergovernmental Russian-Vietnamese Commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, which was held from 27 to 29 August 2018 in Saint-Petersburg (the Russian Federation).

The meeting was co-chaired by Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation D. Skobelkin and Deputy Chairman of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Central banks of the two countries, the Ministry of economic development of the Russian Federation, major Russian and Vietnamese banks, as well as other financial and commercial organizations.

The key issues of the meeting were cooperation in the financial markets and integration of payment systems of Russia and Vietnam. For the first time in the framework of this event, the issue of settlements under Russian-Vietnamese foreign trade contracts with the participation of commercial banks and companies was raised.

By Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia D. Skobelkin’s invitation, the IBEC Chairman of the Board D. Ivanov delivered a speech in which he presented to the audience the Bank’s possibilities, due to the Bank's unique business profile,as a ready-made platform created by governments of the member countries with the functionality necessary for a comprehensive development of economic and trade relations, in particular, settlement operations between Vietnam and Russia.

The most relevant topic for the IBEC discussed in the framework of the Working group was a potential for the Bank to make payments in Vietnamese dongs for the benefit of Russian and Vietnamese customers. The IBEC is actively cooperating in this direction with the State Bank of Vietnam.

For information: both the Russian Federation and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are the IBEC member countries, and cooperation with both countries is among the most important strategic areas of the Bank's work.

Considering the fast-growing economy of Vietnam, the IBEC considers the Vietnamese direction as one of its priorities. The total amount of approved limits for banks in Vietnam is 104 million euros, including 85 million euros for trade finance operations, which will soon be used to finance trade transactions.

The IBEC also invests in Vietnam's sovereign Eurobonds (a portfolio worth about $10 million) and places temporarily available funds with Vietnamese banks (deposits in excess of $20 million). The Bank is considering a number of promising investment projects totaling more than 150 million euros, which include a variety of transactions: from reconstruction of a plant for the production of railroad cars in Vietnam to construction of a plant in Vietnam for the production of sulfuric acid.

The Bank invests in Russian corporate and quasi-sovereign securities (a portfolio of approximately us $ 68 million) and places temporarily available funds with Russian banks (deposits of up to 7 days in excess of us $ 1.2 million and deposits of more than 7 days in excess of us $ 1.6 million).

Loans to Russian contractors make up about 20 % of the IBEC’s loan portfolio, a project to modernize one of the largest Russian air hubs is soon to be financed by the IBEC.