APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting 2018: Welcoming the experience exchange on BEPS

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Delegates attended the meeting.

With the theme of "Harnessing Inclusive Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future", Ministers and leaders of international financial organizations such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), discussed the global and regional macroeconomic situation and listened to the reports and gave comments on the initiative implemented in the APEC 2018, on the progress of the Cebu Action Plan, and discussed with the APEC Business Advisory Council ABAC), on the engagement of the business sector in the APEC Finance Ministers process.

Discussing the global and regional macroeconomic situation, ministers and leaders of international organizations said that global economic growth in the short term will remain robust, however, in the medium term growth may reduce. According to the IMF, the global growth will reach 3.7% in 2018 and 2019, but in the coming time, it will continue to face negative risks, especially protectionism is increasing while support for globalization and integration is declining due to the political tensions in some parts of the world, and the escalation of trade war between the United States and China.

Regarding the regional economy, ADB forecasted that the growth in the Asia-Pacific region will remain at 5.9% in 2018 and 5.7% in 2019, but the region will be affected by the US-China trade war and unusual trade policy changes from regional economies, affecting the investment flow and confidence in the business sector.

Sharing views at the conference, Viet Nam emphasized that APEC still plays the leading role in world economic growth, but there are still risks and challenges for the region, especially with the imbalance in the growth of economies, trade tensions and risk factors in the financial system, such as high public debt, imbalanced financial structure, the increase in USD price and the inflation risk in some economies in the region. Despite the difficulties, Vietnam's economy has achieved positive results.

Economic growth in 2018 is forecasted to be 6.7-6.8%, exports continue to grow, trade surplus remains, debt to GDP ratio falls and inflation is controlled. Vietnam agrees with the view of quick economic growth but sustainable, the economic growth must accompany with structural reform, balanced development among sectors, economic sectors, and poverty reduction.

Ministers also listened to the reports on the progress and commented on the results of the implementation of the APEC 2018 themes and priorities, including the theme: Promoting Infrastructure Development and Finance; promoting inclusive finance; enhancing transparency and international tax cooperation and disaster risk financing and insurance. Ministers agreed on the important role of infrastructure in promoting growth and encouraging economies to adopt policies and measures that facilitate the transparency of project information and create opportunity for potential investors to participate in the projects in consistency with good practices on sustainable investment.

The Ministers also appreciated the efforts of member economies in promoting the access to finance for individuals and businesses in the region, facilitating poverty reduction, accumulating production properties and sharing common interests. Recognizing the importance of international tax cooperation, Ministers welcomed the activities of APEC 2018 on promoting experience exchange and information sharing within the framework of initiatives in international tax cooperation, especially the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project of G20 and OECD. The Ministers also acknowledged the results of the cooperation on Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (DRFI) carried out by APEC Working Group with support from the WBG and the OECD.

During the meeting with ABAC, the Ministers emphasized the role of digital infrastructure and financial technology in the digital economy. The Ministers also spoke with ABAC about the challenges and the involvement of the business sector in solving problems in these areas.

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The Ministers endorsed the Joint Statement of the Meeting and emphasized the role of APEC financial cooperation in addressing regional challenges and demonstrated the determination of economies in enhancing cooperation and policies to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of each economy as well as of the region. The Ministers of Finance approved the 26th Meeting in 2019 in Chile.