KUALA LUMPUR: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers will unveil a new roadmap this October to replace the Cebu Action Plan, setting out priorities for the Finance Ministers’ Process (FMP) over the next five years, said Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying.
She said the roadmap would outline medium-term initiatives and deliverables under the FMP, aimed at advancing APEC’s Putrajaya Vision of an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community.
“It is critical for ASEAN members to work together within APEC, to ensure that our common priorities in Southeast Asia are well-embedded in this new Asia-Pacific roadmap and that initiatives in ASEAN and APEC are consistent with each other and mutually supportive,“ she said.
Lim said this in her keynote address at the Southeast Asia Conference by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), and the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) today.
She emphasised that both APEC and ASEAN play a critical role in providing platforms for coordinated and collective action among their members, as well as for enhanced government and regulatory engagement with the private sector.
She noted that new business models and rapid advances in technology can help redesign financing solutions to better serve micro, small and medium enterprises and marginalised consumers.
“These include digital technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, as well as new products such as crypto and tokenised assets and digital currencies. However, many of them carry risks that are still not yet fully understood today.
“Enabling their safe and effective deployment would also require legal, policy and regulatory reforms, changes in industry practices and collaborative efforts to educate consumers, industry practitioners and regulators,“ she added.
Lim stated that Malaysia is looking forward to recommendations from today’s conference, themed ‘Financing Southeast Asia’s Development Priorities: Identifying Medium-Term Deliverables for Public-Private Collaboration’.
“We look forward to our continuing collaboration in ASEAN with ASEAN-BAC and we hope to have a fruitful discussion at this year’s annual working lunch dialogue between ABAC and APEC Finance Ministers this coming October in Incheon,“ she said.
