The event was co-chaired by Vice Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha and Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong.
The hosting of the meeting marked an important milestone in the Vietnam Chairmanship of the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process and the APEC Vietnam 2017 in general.
Addressing the event, APEC 2017 SOM Chair Bui Thanh Son said the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process plays a crucial and indispensable role in APEC cooperation. The goal set in the Cebu Action Plan to build an APEC community that is more financially integrated, transparent, resilient, and connected, is indeed vital to support strong, sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth in the region, he added.
The APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM 1) and the Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting (SFOM) are also mutually supportive and complementary. There are a range of areas addressed by both SOM and SFOM, including infrastructure, infrastructure investment for food security, financial services, women’s economic empowerment, finance for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), human resources development and disaster risk reduction.
During the two-day meeting, the delegates discussed recent economic and financial developments and outlook in the APEC region in order to identify appropriate policy responses for APEC economies to cope with the global economic volatilities as well as cooperation priorities for the 2017 APEC FMP and their implementation plans.
They discussed and agreed upon the implantation plans on the 4 priority policy themes which include: Long-term financing for infrastructure; Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS); disaster risk financing and insurance; and financial inclusion.
The Finance and Central Bank Deputies discussed and agreed on the implementation and review of the Cebu Action Plan and the reforms of the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process and agreed that financial cooperation among APEC members should pay more focus on practical and efficient activities besides meetings and seminars.
They also tasked the APEC senior finance officials to meet, tentatively in May, 2017.
Source: VNA