Chilean Finance Minister Felipe Larraín opened the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday (15.10.2019) with a call to deepen free trade and accelerate financial integration among the bloc's 21 member economies.
«I sincerely hope that this meeting will be fruitful and serve as a platform to bring us closer to achieving prosperity and sustainable growth in the Asia Pacific region.", said Larraín at the beginning of the meeting, held in Santiago.
The official assured the APEC Finance representatives that actions towards multilateralism "are vital to promoting global growth, especially if we want to achieve APEC's priority objectives of creating prosperity for the people of the region, with balanced, inclusive, sustainable and innovative economies.«.
In his speech, Larraín mentioned the possibility of an agreement between the United States and China being signed at the Leaders' Summit in November, which would put an end to trade tensions between the two countries.. "We expect very positive signals. We hope that it will not just be an announcement, but the concrete signing of an agreement here in Santiago."", he claimed.
«The world will grow more, trade will grow more, investment will grow and uncertainty in the global economy will be reduced if we have this agreement. It would be very significant.", he said about it.
The official also highlighted the financial policies that Chile has implemented, with the idea of sharing the experience of the southern country with the rest of the economies present.
«We are a small, stable country that is open to the global economy. Although we are geographically distant from the major economic centres, we have constantly expanded our international presence, contributing to the global liberalisation of trade and investment.«He declared.
He added that in recent years, his country has promoted measures to ensure the competitiveness of local financial institutions and enhance their global integration. At the same time, the government is working to become a regional financial center, with an economy favorable to capital investment, he explained.
APEC Finance Week kicked off last Wednesday and culminates on Tuesday with a joint statement by the bloc's finance ministers and/or heads of delegation on the closing of the APEC 2019 financial track.
In the previous days, the economic and financial outlook for Asia Pacific, the digital economy, financing for natural disasters, financial integration and tax cooperation were discussed.
Chile is hosting APEC 2019. The meetings began in December 2018 and will end in November, when the 21 leaders of the economies that make up APEC will meet in Santiago on November 16 and 17.
The government has said that the agenda promoted by Chile this year at APEC is one of the most ambitious in recent years, and that it will contribute to boosting sustainable and inclusive growth in Asia Pacific.
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