Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung delivers a statement during the opening ceremony of the 16th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 8, 2010. (Xinhua/Duan Zhuoli)
The finance ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said Vietnam on Thursday that the region's economy is expected to expand by between 4.9 percent and 5.6 percent this year.
The statement was made at the 14th ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting that closed here on Thursday. At the meeting, finance ministers said business-oriented policies and active response of each member country have helped ASEAN economies mitigate the negative impacts of the global economic crisis and soon resume the attraction of investment flows.
Participants made assessments on the progresses of the implementation of commitments to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.
The progresses include the enhancement of the financial system and the maintenance of regional financial stability, the fact that the currency swap agreement Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization coming into effect last month, and the agreement to establish a 700-million-dollar trust fund named Credit Guarantee Investment Facility by May this year, said the ministers.
The ministers also reaffirmed their commitments to financial integration within the framework of the general plan on building the AEC, particularly in the development of the bond markets, the liberalization of financial services and liberalization of capital account.