HARMONIZATION. Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Perry Warjiyo, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati and head of the Fiscal Policy Agency of the Finance Ministry Febrio Kacaribu (left to right) attend a press conference on the Meeting of ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Jakarta on Friday (Aug. 25, 2023). The officials underscored the need to harmonize the infrastructure financing by implementing sustainable taxonomy. (Antara)
JAKARTA – Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to harmonize infrastructure financing by implementing sustainable taxonomy.
"ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors discussed how ASEAN can increase infrastructure financing through repositioning infrastructure funds into the ASEAN Green Fund," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said here Friday.
At a press conference at the Meeting of ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (AFMGM) in Jakarta, she said financing harmonization aims to promote sustainable infrastructure in ASEAN.
During the meeting, the finance ministers and central bank governors also agreed to conduct further studies on the contribution and optimization of ASEAN infrastructure recapitalization.
The AFMGM highlighted the importance of transition financing to support low-carbon economy targets in ASEAN.
"We are all fully aware that climate change is a real threat and we need to address it. Therefore, transition financing is one of the important issues," Indrawati said.
Furthermore, the meeting discussed the ASEAN taxonomy for sustainable finance, which is a key instrument for attracting investment that supports transition financing in the region, she added.
The meeting underlined the importance of the compatibility of the ASEAN taxonomy with other international taxonomies.
Indrawati said it is important to understand the compatibility between ASEAN taxonomy and other taxonomies to gain insights that can be used to tackle existing challenges.
The meeting also discussed disaster risk financing with a focus on information exchange, accelerating the completion and implementation of the agreed standard procedure and guideline, and increasing the capacity to face current threats and problems.
In addition, the meeting spotlighted the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025.
"We want this blueprint to be strong and remain relevant to current global developments and dynamics," Indrawati said. (Antara)
