APEC Finance Ministers Embrace Structural Reform
Issued by the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting
Lima, Peru, 15 October 2016 – “APEC as a group can help instill global growth amid concerns of lower trade volumes and
weakening productivity,” said Peru’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Dr Alfredo Thorne, when he opened the APEC Finance
Ministers’ Meeting on Saturday.
APEC Finance Ministers are meeting this week in Lima under a week after they gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Annual
Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. They continue their
pursuit to develop financial inclusion policies, tools for disaster risk financing and stem the decline in productivity
growth for an integrated and resilient Asia-Pacific Region.
Dr Thorne said that APEC should adapt policies to increase trade and open up economies. This includes opening services,
removing trade barriers and increasing productivity.
“We are all committed to structural reforms,” stated Dr Thorne who chaired the meeting. “Despite our differences over
which to prioritize – whether formalization of the economy, taxes or budget reforms – we all have a common objective to
strengthen productivity and competitiveness.”
“In this changing environment, skills are key,” he observed. “Our economies need to invest in new skills and adapt the
labor force to new challenges, particularly in terms of connectivity, digitalization and technology. We need to steer
our investment in that direction.”
Ministers heard analyses of the current macroeconomic environment, the policy responses and the future perspectives of
the APEC sub-regions and their particular economies. Measured against the global economy, it was reported that the
region as a whole outpaces the rest of the world but trade is starting to slow.
“We share the concerns about where the fragile global economy is going and what we need to do to address these
challenges,” observed Dr Thorne.
“We need to be sure that these reforms filter through to the population-at large,” he concluded.
Ministers also announced the launch of a collaboration action plan between APEC economies and the Global Infrastructure
Hub, which will open opportunities to share knowledge platforms and to adopt the Hub’s tools and resources. This will
contribute to the implementation of APEC’s Public-Private Partnership Knowledge Portal. This online repository is a
global pipeline of quality, bankable infrastructure projects. It will also help dissemimate best practices addressing
contracting, financing, and funding.
Finally, Ministers gave broad support to international tax cooperation initiatives to make prpgress towards a more
credible and effective international tax system.
The next APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Quang Nam - Da Nang, Vietnam in October 2017.