The APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) finished the first working day in Nha Trang City, in the central province of Khánh Hòa on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Khang

KHÁNH HÒA — The APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) finished the first working day in Nha Trang City, in the central province of Khánh Hòa on Thursday.
Opening the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process (FMP) this year, the two-day event is co-chaired by Việt Nam’s Deputy Minister of Finance Trần Xuân Hà and Deputy Governor of the State Bank Nguyễn Thị Hồng.
The agenda on the first working day consisted of global and regional economic-financial outlook; the implementation of the Cebu Action Plan; long-term infrastructure investment; base erosion and profit shifting; and disaster-risk financing and insurance.
Concerning the economic-financial outlook, participants agreed that the global and regional economic growth is positive but still faced with difficulties and challenges, such as sluggish external demand, environmental issues, and inequality.
They took note of diverse policy responses by member economies, saying there was high demand for cooperation and coordination on macro-policy responses in the region to promote growth and macro-economic rebalancing in member economies, in a bid to boost trade, regional connectivity, and the participation in global value chain.
Discussing the Cebu Action Plan (CAP) and proposed reform plan for the APEC FMP, the deputies heard a report on the CAP implementation and endorsed a list of initiatives/deliverables implemented by member economies and technical support from international organisations.
The meeting encouraged APEC members to continue registering their initiatives/deliverables with the APEC Secretariat for further implementation and requested international organisation to reserve additional resources for technical assistance to support APEC member economies in their activities for the successful realisation of the CAP.
On the subject of long-term infrastructure investment, participating delegates shared their respective experiences on challenges to public-private-partnership (PPP) projects.
They focused on risk allocation issues between State and private investors, tools to mitigate and share risks, as well as the role of private investors in PPP projects.
The deputies also discussed ways to promote cooperation on the issue among APEC members and to implement related activities in 2017.
Regarding base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), participants discussed and shared experience on implementing BEPS packages, including BEPS minimum standards.
Member economies including Australia, Japan and Indonesia presented their respective cases on implementing BEPS packages and projects.
The meeting ended its first day with a session on disaster risk financing and insurance, where participants discussed national strategies on the matter as well as methodologies on building disaster risk databases.
Member economies such as Japan, Australia shared experiences on the formulation of their respective national strategies on the subject as well as the management of public assets against the consequences of natural calamities.
The second working day will focus on financial inclusion and other business issues.

Global value chains

Amidst current globalisation trend and regional economic connectivity, each APEC member should be aware of the significance of becoming part of the global supply, production and value chains, said a Vietnamese Ministry of Industry of Trade official.
The statement was made by Lương Hoàng Thái, head of the ministry’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department at a conference on APEC policies on the support industry in Nha Trang City on Thursday.
With different economic growth levels and scales, they should define their own support industry to suit their specific development situation, he said, stressing that the support industry’s sustainable growth creates jobs, strengthens technology transfer and reinforces internal strength of each economy, especially developing ones with increased demand for production, he held.
APEC has succeeded in forming a channel for member economies to join hands in improving their capacity and making full use of opportunities and benefit of the globalisation to serve the growth of each member and the stability and prosperity of the region, said Thái.
Thái noted that over the past years, APEC has focused on boosting extensive regional economic connectivity and integration, thus motivating member economies to join deeply in the global chains of production, supply and value.
This has also helped strengthen the connection among regional economic institutions as well as the growth of industries and services supporting economic development of each member
He noted that APEC has set up a reliable supply chain and improved the effectiveness of the chain by 10 per cent in 2015, while backing businesses, including micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), to actively participate in the chain, and enhancing the competitiveness of member economies.
Participants at the event sought ways to enhance capacity of each APEC member in boosting the support industry, thus creating favourable conditions for regional trade and investment as well as the engagement of MSMEs in the global value chains.
They also discussed a wide range of issues related to the linking of policymakers and management officials in building a competitive and modern support industry, the building of policy guidelines and good practices in the field.
Last year, APEC approved an initiative to develop APEC support industry co-chaired by Việt Nam and Japan, during which, a model research was launched in Australia, Mexico and Việt Nam and policy guidance and good regulatory practice in support industries will be built for submission to the AMM 29 in Đà Nẵng City in November.

Public-private dialogue on services

Also on Thursday, the APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Services took place in Nha Trang City. Policymakers and business representatives discussed ways to intensify APEC co-operation in major services such as distribution, transport and logistics. 

Opening the event, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Phạm Quỳnh Mai, said trade and services play an increasingly important role in global trade and economic growth.

Commodity trade and manufacturing increasingly rely on services, such as distribution, telecommunication and finance, among others, she said, adding that economies with a high rate of trade and services in their gross domestic product (GDP) perform better than those strong in agriculture and manufacturing.

Member economies have targeted 6.8 per cent service growth.

The dialogue, part of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM-1) underway in Nha Trang, is expected to provide a platform for the APEC Group on Services and for other forums to continue building capacity and support programmes for its members. — VNS