APEC Peru 2008 Finance Ministers' Meeting Preparations Underway
Preparations for the 2008 APEC Finance Ministers Meeting are underway with Senior Finance Officials finalizing details of the key policy themes to be discussed by ministers when they meet in Trujillo, Peru, next October.
The two policy discussion themes of "Result Based Budgeting" and "Capital Market Reforms" were agreed by Senior Finance Officials from APEC's Member Economies meeting today and yesterday in Lima.
The Chair of the Senior Finance Officials Meeting, Mr Javier Kapsoli said the policy discussion themes would make a significant contribution to the overall APEC Peru 2008 objectives of enhancing the social dimension of free trade and economic growth.
"Finance ministers will seek to develop new measures to bring about improvements in the management of public funds through more responsible budgeting," Mr Kapsoli said.
"By reducing wastage and increasing efficiencies in governmental budgeting, Finance Ministers hope to see greater social benefit for limited government resources."
Mr Kapsoli said the policy discussion theme of capital market reforms was also important for ensuring social development in a time of increasing international trade.
"Volatility in regional capital markets has the potential to impair trade, reduce employment and undermine prosperity in the region," Mr Kapsoli said.
"The task before APEC Finance Ministers is to build on efforts of previous years to increase transparency and ensure well-functioning regional and domestic capital markets so that business can invest and create jobs."
Mr Kapsoli said an important part of the APEC Finance Ministers' Process is the consideration of global and regional macroeconomic and financial developments as they develop through the year.
"As the year progresses there will undoubtedly be a number of important global finance issues that will appear on the radar and these are likely to be discussed by Finance Ministers.
"This annual meeting brings together the Finance Ministers of several of the world's leading economies, and it is through this forum that major financial issues that are important for the economic and social development of the global economy can be addressed.
"The Finance Ministers Meeting also provides an opportunity for Ministers to meet in a one-on-one basis with their counterparts from each of the other member economies to strengthen bilateral relationships between economies."
The 15th APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting will be one of the most important meetings of APEC 2008 Peru and will provide important input to the Leaders' Meeting that will take place in Lima on November 22-23.