VNA
APEC ministers push for free trade area
The 21st APEC Ministerial Meeting ended in Singapore on Nov. 12 after issuing a joint statement that called for the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
The recently adopted Cebu Action Plan (CAP), featuring a roadmap towards a more sustainable financial future for the Asian-Pacific region, will be submitted to APEC leaders at their meeting in Manila, the Philippines this November.
The plan was kicked off at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers’ Meeting, which took place in Cebu, the Philippines on September 10-11, with the aim of setting up a more financially integrated, transparent and resilient APEC Community.
It focuses on boosting integration and financial reforms and recovery, and infrastructure and capital development.
The CAP will continue working towards the Bogor Goals on investment and open trade as well as the Kyoto Statement on Development Strategy and Financing through determining priorities for the future development of the Asia-Pacific.
The APEC Finance Ministers also agreed on financial transparency and improving the optimisation of public investment in the region.
They looked forward to building an APEC Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Portal combined with the Global Infrastructure Portal to create an online database for PPP infrastructure projects.
With 21 members, APEC accounts for 50 percent of the global gross domestic product and nearly half the global trade.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts a 5.8 percent growth rate for Asian economies in 2015 and 6 percent in 2016.-VNA
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