The 13th APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting kicked off in Hanoi Tuesday, centering on financial sector reform and efficient revenue sources and acting as input for the approaching APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM) .

Finance and central bank deputies from members of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will "exchange ideas and discuss the two main themes, namely 'Promoting Public Finance Efficiency and Sustainability: Towards Stable and Efficient Revenue Sources,' and 'Financial Sector Reform to Attract Capital Flows,'" Vietnamese deputy finance minister Tran Xuan Ha addressed at the two-day meeting.

The delegates will review the process of finance cooperation, consider additional initiatives, and propose to APEC Finance Ministers strategic initiatives in mid- and long-term for further enhancing the process' effectiveness. They will also endorse a draft joint statement of the ministers and the annex at deputy level before submitting it to the FMM, he said.

At a retreat on Sept. 7, the finance ministers from 21 APEC members will center their discussions on policies of fiscal revenue sources and have dialogues with representatives from the private sector on policies of financial sector reform.

At plenary sessions on Sept. 7-8, the ministers and representatives from such entities as international financial institutions and the APEC Secretariat are to touch upon the two themes, global and regional macro-economic and financial challenges, policy tools, APEC cooperation arrangements for macroeconomic stabilization. They will also discuss tools and mechanisms necessary to combat terrorism financing and money laundering.

At the banking meeting, Vietnamese deputy minister of foreign affairs Le Cong Phung said the most important event of APEC 2006 is the APEC Economic Leaders' Week to be held from Nov. 12-19. He also highlighted main deliverables of APEC 2006.

"On trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, APEC member economies have been working hard to establish the Hanoi Action Plan to Implement the Busan Roadmap.. On economic and technical cooperation, APEC has recently reaffirmed the fundamental role of economic and technical cooperation (ECOTECH) as a pillar of APEC cooperation to help member economies catch up with the process of trade and investment liberalization and benefit from it," Phung stated.

Towards the goal of improving secure and favorable business environment, a number of initiatives have been put forward in the areas of transparency and anti-corruption, secure trade, and emergency preparedness, he said.

Since its inception in 1989, APEC has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the Asia-Pacific region and to create efficient domestic economies and dramatically increasing exports. Key to achieving APEC's vision are what are referred to as the "Bogor Goals" of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.

APEC has 21 member economies, including China, the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and Australia, which account for more than a third of the world's population, over 50 percent of world GDP and in excess of 41 percent of world trade.

Source: Xinhua