ABAC Endorses Cebu Action Plan

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=4&rid=801551
• Tuesday, September 8, 2015

(PNA/Bernama), CTB/CDN

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 8 (PNA/Bernama) -- The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) report has endorsed the Cebu Action Plan (CAP), a multi-year roadmap for reforms that the finance ministers will announce at their annual meeting from Sept 10-11 in Cebu, Philippines.

In a statement Monday, ABAC said finance industry experts joined officials from finance ministries and multilateral agencies in several workshops held this year to identify initiatives under the CAP.

Representatives from leading banks, asset management firms, insurers, pension funds, credit bureaus and rating agencies, as well as financial industry associations were involved in three ABAC-led initiatives -- the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum, Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership and Financial Inclusion Forum, it said.

ABAC said following these discussions, officials had identified concrete programmes to expand small medium enterprises' access to finance, promote financial inclusion and improve the depth and liquidity of capital markets.

Its Finance and Economics Working Group Chairperson, Hiroyuki Suzuki, said the group has also agreed to launch initiatives to develop the pension and insurance industries, increase private sector investment in infrastructure and facilitate disaster risk financing.

"The private sector is supporting the establishment of a network of experts from the financial industry, multilateral institutions and government to build credit information systems allowing more owners of small businesses to use their transaction records in obtaining loans.

"They will also help improve legal frameworks to enable SMEs' wider use of movable assets as collateral," he said.

The APFF will convene workshops under the CAP to promote policies and regulations that could facilitate trade and supply chain finance, as well as alternative financing mechanisms to spur investment in innovative start-ups, he said.

Suzuki said the private sector would support governments' efforts to develop capital markets, which were important for funding infrastructure and for increasing the diversity and stability of the financial system.

ABAC was created by APEC Leaders in 1995 to be the primary voice of business in APEC.