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APEC finance ministers conclude meeting, launch roadmap in C. Philippines

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finance ministers of member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ended Friday their 22nd meeting after launching the Cebu Action Plan ( CAP), a roadmap for a more sustainable financial future for the Asia-Pacific region.

The CAP is a voluntary and non-binding roadmap aiming to create an APEC community that is more prosperous, financially integrated, transparent, resilient, and connected, said the 2015 APEC Finance Ministers' statement issued after the two-day meeting held in the central Philippine province of Cebu.

The action plan is composed of four pillars, including promoting financial integration; advancing fiscal reforms and transparency; enhancing financial resilience; and accelerating infrastructure development and financing.

The CAP continues the progress towards the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, as well as the Kyoto Report on Growth Strategy and Finance of identifying priorities for future growth in APEC region, the joint statement said.

The document will be submitted to APEC leaders during their meeting in Manila in November.

Finance ministers also agreed that fiscal transparency and reforms figure in optimizing public investments across the region. Regional cooperation on taxation and governance reforms will help ensure that available fiscal space are dedicated towards growth- inducing investments.

In view of the high costs borne by many APEC economies due to natural disasters, APEC economies vowed to enhance financial resilience by building deeper financial markets.

The ministers expressed confidence that resiliency can be bolstered through the development of innovative disaster risk financing and insurance mechanisms, and other risk transfer instruments available through the capital markets.

Recognizing the heightened role quality infrastructure plays in a growing region, the finance ministers also looked forward to the development of an APEC Public-Private Partnership (PPP) knowledge portal in collaboration with the Global Infrastructure Hub to serve as an online repository of PPP Infrastructure projects.

They also noted how developing quality infrastructure as an asset class for institutional and long-term investors in the APEC region can facilitate the mobilization of regional savings into long-term investment pools.

The 23rd Finance Ministers' Meeting will be held in Lima, Peru in October 2016. Endi