Achievements
At their meeting in Lima, Peru (Nov. 22-23), APEC Economic Leaders, in
addition to their Annual Declaration, issued a separate Lima
Statement on the Global Economy. It reflects the outcomes of the 15th
Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM), which took place earlier in the month in
Trujillo. The gathering of Finance Ministers and representatives of key
international financial institutions was able to assess measures taken around
the region so far, to address the turmoil on global financial markets. The
meeting also discussed the need for medium and longer term reforms of regulatory
and institutional regimes for the world's financial sectors.
A Joint
Ministerial Statement issued by the meeting includes the following:
- A strong endorsement of the recommendations of the Financial Stability
Forum (FSF), the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Plan of
Action and the G20 special session of Finance Ministers; and welcomed the
convening of the G20 Leaders' Summit on Financial Markets and the World
Economy held in Washington on November 15;
- A commitment to resist protectionist measures and a call for a prompt,
ambitious, comprehensive and balanced conclusion to the WTO Doha Development
Agenda negotiations, noting that the crisis has underlined the
interdependence of markets and the importance to all inter-linked economies
of continued trade liberalisation and market reforms, including
behind-the-border structural reforms; and
- Tasks the newly established APEC Policy Support Unit to undertake research
into behind-the-border impediments within food supply chains, in recognition
that, although food and commodity prices have fallen recently, their
volatility continues to place pressure on APEC economies and their most
vulnerable citizens;
In 2008 Senior Finance Officials also worked closely with Economic Committee
officials in preparing the inaugural APEC
Structural Reform Ministers' Meeting, hosted by Australia in August 2008.
This meeting addressed the benefits of structural reform, with a particular
focus on regulatory reform; strategies for successful implementation of reform,
including political considerations; and robust legislative and institutional
frameworks. A key deliverable was endorsement of the Good
Practice Guide to Regulatory Reform and agreement that FMP and EC should
continue to work closely on matters of common interest.
Pursuant to the FMP policy initiatives, a number of workshops and seminars
took place in 2008:
- The Enhancing Risk Management and Governance in the Region's Banking
System to Meet Risks & Challenges in the Global Banking System
capacity building program was held in Shanghai, China in December.
Participants from 11 APEC developing member economies attended. The program
analysed: risk management in banking, including the challenges faced in
implementing Basel II prescriptions; strengthening regulatory frameworks in
prudential banking; and approaches to capital allocation in the context of
risk management.
- The Fiscal Space - Reviewing, Assessing and Prioritizing Government
Expenditure workshop, the second in a series, was held in Jakarta,
Indonesia in May. The workshop sought to increase participants' practical
skills in and understanding and application of fiscal space concepts, in
ways that are appropriate for immediate use in their own economies.
- The Building Fiscal Sustainability Through Better Risk Management of
Public-Private Partnership ("PPP") Projects seminar and
workshop (segment 2) was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in May. The
seminar looked at current trends and issues relating to the development of
PPP markets in the region. The workshop developed the action plans that
participants had already formulated to address economy-specific issues to
support better risk management of PPPs. A set of Principles for PPPs was
formulated and subsequently at the Finance Ministers' Meeting in November.
- As part of the "Initiative on Ageing Issues in APEC", a
high-level seminar co-hosted by APEC and the International Monetary Fund
took place in Seoul in May. At the workshop, participating member economies
explored and shared experiences on economy-specific and general issues
regarding ageing and financial markets in APEC. The participants included
high-level government officials and experts from academia.
- A workshop, organised by the APEC Finance Development Centre (AFDC), on
Promoting SME financing in the APEC Region was held in June 2008 at
the Shanghai National Accounting Institute. The workshop considered the
challenges facing SMEs in a tighter fiscal environment and how to obtain and
manage credit.
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