Press Release: Central Bank of Myanmar Hosts the Third Conference of the Committee for the Coordination of Financial Sector Technical Assistance to Myanmar (COFTAM)

On July 2, 2015, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) hosted in Nay Pyi Taw the third meeting of the Committee for the Coordination of Financial Sector Technical Assistance to Myanmar. The group was established on April 25, 2014. Participants included multilateral agencies-- Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, International Monetary Fund, Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), ,the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the World Bank – as well as bilateral development partners – Bank Negara Malaysia, Bank of Thailand, the British Embassy, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Embassy of Japan, Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Toronto Centre, UK Department for International Development (DFID), as well as representatives from several departments of the Central Bank of Myanmar, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

On this occasion, to encourage prioritization and cooperation, the eight sub-sector working groups met and developed views on issues important for their subgroups. They discussed the needs, sequencing, and collaboration on training and technical assistance in their sectors. The subgroup presentations demonstrated several opportunities for collaboration on training, particularly in the context of existing plans for human resource development planning at the central bank, the CBM’s strategic plan for onsite and offsite supervision, the Financial Sector Development Strategy (FSDS), and a future CBM training institute.

The third meeting also learnt of the establishment of the extranet site which will provide COFTAM members with opportunities to post their documents for the information of both the authorities and other development partners.

It was agreed that each group would meet remotely in the next month to enable the preparation of a more developed, synchronized and sequenced technical assistance and training program. This program would be included in the first annual report of the COFTAM which is to be prepared by the Committee in the coming months.