APEC finance ministries, central banks' deputies kick off meeting in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Deputies from finance ministries and central banks of member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathered in the Philippines on Thursday for a two-day meeting to form the Cebu Action Plan, a roadmap to make the region more inclusive and resilient in the years to come.

Philippines' Treasurer Roberto Tan, in his opening remarks for the APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting being held in Tagytay City in northern province of Cavite, said that with the Cebu Action Plan being a key agenda in the APEC Finance Ministers' Process this year, they can forge inclusive economies with financial integration, transparency and resiliency as well as infrastructure development and financing.

Inclusivity has been placed on the APEC agenda amid the desire to make economic growth redound to a faster pace of poverty reduction.

Robust growth of economies becomes meaningful only if the benefits are shared by the majority, delegates agreed.

Resiliency has also been a focus of policymakers in the region given various risks to growth, such as natural disasters, lackluster global demand and financial-market volatility arising from slower recovery of advanced economies.

"Financial interconnectivity of APEC member economies and their close linkages in the global financial markets make the region exposed to the risk of a global market liquidity dry-up and other market volatilities. As such, APEC economies must also build buffers to protect it from these financial market disturbances," Tan added.

Efforts to boost inclusivity and economic resiliency are ongoing across the region, but delegates agree that more needs to be done.  

The finance and central bank deputies are expected to fine-tune the Cebu Action Plan during the two-day meeting before its official launch during the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting, which will be held in September in Cebu City.