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Strategic Review of the APEC Finance Ministers Process

Introduction
At our meeting in Brunei Darussalam in September 2000, we agreed to review the strategic goals and modus operandi of the APEC Finance Ministers' process in order to provide a stronger focus for the future work programme and to anchor it in APEC's overall vision. We requested Deputies to conduct the review and report the results for our consideration when we met in Suzhou in September 2001.
Strategic goals
As part of the strategic review, we have agreed to a set of strategic goals for the APEC Finance Ministers' process that complement the overall goals for APEC, as prescribed by APEC Leaders. These goals reflect the strengths and unique characteristics of our process. Our goals for the work of the Finance Ministers' process are to promote sound and credible policies for:
  • sustainable and broad-based growth with equity in the APEC region;
  • good corporate governance and public sector management;
  • stable and efficient financial markets;
  • greater economic cooperation, integration and openness among APEC economies; and
  • facilitation of economic and technical cooperation within the region in pursuit of the above goals.
Modus operandi
The ways in which we achieve our goals should reflect APEC's unique characteristics, comparative advantages and limitations, such as the diversity of APEC's membership, the voluntary nature of economies' involvement and the limitations on resources to develop policy initiatives. In this context, we agree that the following ways are the most appropriate for the APEC Finance Ministers' process to effectively and efficiently achieve its goals:
  • encouraging understanding and implementation of policy reforms and international standards through the preparation of reports, seminars, workshops, training initiatives and policy dialogues;
  • discussing and providing feedback to standard setting bodies on the development of international standards and codes;
  • undertaking analysis in policy areas relevant to the strategic goals, where this is not being done elsewhere;
  • maximising the opportunities APEC provides for high level political support for reform policies; and
  • ensuring that private sector perspectives are integrated into the Finance Ministers' process through effective collaboration and input from private sector groups.