APEC finance ministers to convene 24th meeting in Hoi An

APEC Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting (SFOM) and APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting (FCBDM) will take place in the city on October 19 and 20, respectively to work out documents to be submitted to the finance ministerial meeting.

As many as 300 domestic and foreign delegates, including leaders of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, will attend these meetings.

APEC finance ministers will discuss global and regional economic and financial landscape and review the progress of financial cooperation this year as well as the progress on implementation of the Cebu Action Plan (CAP), according to Vu Nhu Thang, Director-General of the International Cooperation Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance. 

They will also spend time in dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and senior leaders of business giants in the region.

Under the national theme of APEC 2017 “Creating new dynamism, Fostering a shared future”, the APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting in Nha Trang in February 2017 has agreed on the 4 policy priorities in 2017, including: (i) Long-term Investment in Infrastructure; (ii) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting; (iii) Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance; (iv) Financial Inclusion.

On Long-term Investment in Infrastructure, the focus is the mobilization of long-term capital from private sector for infrastructure projects, especially protection of interests and risk mitigation for private investors in public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Experience of international organizations and APEC member economies in handling PPP projects, especially risk sharing between the State and private investors was one of the discussion topics at FCBDM, SFOM and the Workshop on Long-term Investment in Infrastructure (May 2017). APEC Senior Finance Officials had discussions with international organizations on effective instruments for project management and concerted training activities for project managers in APEC member economies.   

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting is the topic of great concern of APEC member economies and strongly supported by international organizations, especially OECD and WB. Upon discussion in the Workshop on BEPS Action Plan Deployment in APEC (February 2017), FCBDM, and SFOM, the finance officials agreed on the necessity of strengthened knowledge and practice sharing, regional cooperation in training activities for awareness raising on BEPS and active participation in the BEPS project of G20/OECD.

On Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance, the topic focuses on financing regimes and insurance for natural disasters and subsequent compensation. Upon the discussion in the Workshop on Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Policies (February 2017), FCBDM, and SFOM, the finance officials have exchanged experience in dealing with natural disaters in national and sub-national levels, policies in risk management for public assets in APEC member economies, as well as activities of the Working Group on Disaster Risk Financing (DRF-WG).

On Financial Inclusion, the discussion focuses on credit market and financial services products in order to serve the agriculture and rural development, for sustainable poverty reduction, reform and development of the agriculture sector. The finance officials have worked with international organizations in sharing researches on promoting financial inclusion in APEC, and implementation of cooperation activities in credit information sharing. The topic was of great interest during FCBDM, SFOM, Workshop on Cross-border Credit Infornation Exchange (May 2017), APEC Forum on Financial Inclusion and Financial Infrastruture Development Network (July 2017).

The outcomes of cooperation in the 4 policy priorities areas shall be reported to the Ministers on 21 October 2017, and accordingly a Joint Ministerial Statement (JMS) shall be released on regional cooperation issues, policy themes, and directions for the APEC FMP in the coming time.

The deliverables of APEC FMP 2017 shall be reported to the 2017 APEC National Committee for preparation of APEC Summit in November 2017. The success of APEC FMP 2017 shall contribute to the outcome of 2017 APEC Summit and Vietnam’s success in the hosting year APEC 2017./. 

By Huong Giang