On October 21, 2022, the 5th STEP PSC was held at Co-opBank Head Office in Hanoi. Mr. Brian Allemekinders – Head of Cooperation & Counsellor, Embassy of Canada and Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan – Managing Deputy General Director of Co-opBank co-chaired the meeting. Representatives of Bureau III – Banking Supervision Agency, International Cooperation Department, and IT department – State Bank of Vietnam; Mr. Jean Boisvert – Program Director, Développement International Desjardins; and representatives of Co-opBank departments participating in the STEP project also attended the meeting.
The STEP PSC highly appreciated the efforts made by the STEP Project Management Unit (PMU) in 2021 – 2022. Due to Covid-19 pandemic outbreaks, STEP was able to complete 65% planed activities and 92% of the annual budget. Among others, the PRMS solution has been deployed in all Co-opBank’s branches and recognized by SBV as an effective tool for early detection of operation and financial risks within the PCF network; the E-banking solution has brought about modern banking services to nearly 700 PCFs and hundreds of thousands of their members/clients.
The PSC recommended that STEP PMU prioritize solutions relating to IT application and digitalization with high potential for extending advanced financial services to a wide range of PCFs and their members. Capacity improvement for Co-opBank staffs is to be synchronized with an institutionalized roadmap for extending Co-opBank’s support to the PCF network. STEP is also expected to increase the direct contacts, training and coaching activities to improve understanding and deployment of innovated solutions/products among the pilot PCFs, thus strengthen their management capacity, reduce risks and improve quality of products and services provided to their members in the coming years.