Inside Asia: Bond markets in Asia

The Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP) recently won an Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) grant to assist in the development of Bond Markets in the Asia Pacific region.

The establishment of viable bond markets among APEC economies, particularly those in the South East Asia region has become a priority developmental issue in recent years. APEC Finance Ministers continue to call upon member countries to implement collaborative capacity building activities that address the impediments to bond market development.

Bond markets provide the basic infrastructure for the development of the financial system and the overall economy of a country. It is an alternative to bank lending, where commercial banks are not suited to finance long-term investments.

In responding to the call, RIAP initiated a collaborative effort with the Securities Commission of Malaysia to deliver a two-phase multilateral training program targeting financial regulators responsible for overseeing the functioning of bond markets.

To be staged in Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi later this year, the two-phase program will involve key government agencies from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore.

“The aim of the training is to assist financial regulators make strategic policy decisions in directing their bond market development”, said Leslie Williams RIAP Deputy Director and the program's manager.

“This may include helping them identify the barriers that prevent market efficiency or liquidity,”

“And by collaborating with our Malaysian partners, we are also able to provide the trainees with an understanding of how to manage their challenges from the perspective of a strong developing Asian country where a good level of bond market efficiency is taking place,” he said.

The second phase of the program will takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The program will be co-hosted with the Vietnamese State Securities Commission and will focus on action planning, a training process that help trainees formulate strategies to overcome the impediments to bond market development.

An international seminar involving speaker representatives from APEC and ADB will also be held in conjunction with this follow-up program.

For further details contact Leslie Williams: [email protected]