Chen Kewen, Secretary-General of the Asian Financial Association: Strengthen international cooperation in green finance and support the development of global ecological civilization

Chen Kewen, Secretary-General of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association, delivered a speech at the sub-forum of the 2021 Financial Street Forum "Green Finance Supports the Development of Ecological Civilization and Global Cooperation" on the 21st, saying that the development of ecological civilization needs the strong support of green finance, and global challenges need to be jointly addressed by the international community. In this process, international financial organizations and relevant institutions shoulder important and unique responsibilities.

Photo: Chen Kewen, Secretary General of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association, delivered a speech

Chen Kewen said that the Asian Financial Association set up a green finance cooperation committee in the early days of its establishment, focusing on a series of work on green finance research, conference forums, practical experience sharing, etc., and has held three consecutive green finance international cooperation forums, gradually building an international platform for green finance business exchanges, cooperation and common governance for members.

Since 2019, the AFC Green Finance Cooperation Committee has launched a research project on green finance practices in Asia and other countries and regions, and the results of the project have been released in the form of the AFC Green Finance Practice Report for two consecutive years. Based on the practical cases of green finance in Asia in recent years, the report analyzes the progress and challenges faced in Asia and other regions from the dimensions of environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance, predicts the development trend of green finance in Asia, and puts forward opinions and suggestions to promote the steady development of green finance in Asia under the international situation of normalization of the epidemic.

Chen Kewen said that as a regional and non-governmental international organization in the financial field, Yajin Cooperation will continue to integrate member resources based on regionalization and internationalization, promote green financial cooperation and exchanges, help achieve the goal of double carbon, and support the development of ecological civilization.

The first is to give full play to the "multi-regional" characteristics of members and promote regional cooperation in green finance. The member institutions of the Asian Financial Association come from more than 30 countries and regions on five continents, with the characteristics of "multi-region". We will be committed to publicizing the products and achievements of members in their respective related fields, analyzing and studying the green finance practices of member countries and regions, promoting the exchange and sharing of experience, holding a green finance theme forum, introducing the latest concepts, methods and technologies of international green finance development to Asia, and publicizing the phased achievements of Asian green finance development and regional high-quality green projects, so as to strengthen inter-regional collaboration.

The second is to give full play to the "multi-industry" advantages of members and promote members to enrich green financial products. We call on and are committed to promoting members to give full play to their respective endowments, improve and enrich green financial products and services, and further promote the development of green finance, mainly including: commercial banks continue to optimize and improve the green credit product system, combined with the actual situation of customers to develop credit products that meet the financing needs of different types of customers; securities and fund companies to establish and improve the direct financing system that meets the needs of green development, and the development and innovation of more new financial products such as green indices and green funds. Eligible green enterprises go to the capital market for financing, green bonds and sustainable bonds as a normalized financing method, promote the process of green investment in pensions, hope that long-term funds such as pension funds and insurance funds will be more active in green investment, support pension funds to carry out ESG active and passive investment, and help the entire market to improve sustainable development standards.

The third is to give play to the international organization function of the association and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other international organizations. In the process of green finance development, countries have the pressure to compete with each other, and there is a real long-term cooperation need. In this regard, we should make full use of the advantages of international organizations such as a wide range of participants, equal and transparent governance structures, and relatively neutral and objective positions, so that they can play a greater role in the formulation of green financial standards, the evaluation of policy effects and the evaluation of the effectiveness of project implementation. The AFC hopes to cooperate with other relevant international organizations, strengthen cooperation to give full play to its own advantages and characteristics, better reflect the actual situation and reasonable demands of market players in the financial sector in the Asian region, and promote exchanges with government departments and financial management institutions of relevant countries.

The sub-forum was held by the Asian Financial Cooperation Association and the China Economic Information Service in Beijing on October 21. The forum is one of the parallel forums of the 2021 Financial Street Forum and the 2021 International Forum of the Green Finance Cooperation Committee of the Asian Financial Association. Representatives of members of the Asian Gold Association from more than 10 countries and regions, including China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, as well as industry experts from international organizations and financial institutions, attended the meeting.

Founded in May 2017 and headquartered in Beijing, the Asian Financial Cooperation Association is a regional international organization in the financial field, with the purpose of "connecting cooperation, co-governance and sharing", and is committed to building a communication platform for all kinds of financial institutions, with members from more than 30 countries and regions on five continents, covering banking, securities, insurance, funds, asset management, futures, international financial centers, industry associations, financial technology and financial services.

This article originated from the Financial Circle Network