APEC Senior Finance Officials Meeting wraps up

The closing of The APEC Senior Finance Officials Meeting (SFOM), Ninh Binh, May 19, 2017 - Photo: VNA

In his closing speech, Vu Nhu Thang, Director of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Finance, who doubles as SFOM 2017 Chair, noted the event’s important outcomes, requesting officials to continune discussions to prepare the report for the upcoming APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting to be held in October.

During the course of the meeting, senior officials discussed policies to promote long-term investment in infrastructure, and risk allocation mechanisms in public-private partnership (PPP) projects in particular.

They also discussed regulations and best practices in the APEC region in coping with base erosion and profit shifting, especially by multinational corporations which often lead to losses in taxes in related economies.

Also on the agenda were policy recommendations on disaster risk management, especially on practical experience in formulation of policy responses in the areas of fiscal contingencies, standby credit schemes, stabilisation funds as well as improvement in disaster forecasting and methodology for disaster risk budgeting.

Delegates from 21 APEC member economies also noted the challenges in financial access in rural and agricultural development and discussed orientations for improving financial access in rural areas to support poverty reduction.

The meeting received valuable support from international organisations, such as the World Bank (WB), the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Organisation for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD).-VNA