CEBU, Philippines Sept 10 (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific nations
must integrate their financial markets more closely to boost
trade and investment, the Philippines' national treasurer told a
meeting of finance ministry officials from the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) group on Thursday.
"It is imperative for APEC to further advance financial
integration as a driver for intensified intra-regional trade and
investment," National Treasurer Roberto Tan said, even as
China's slowdown clouds economic prospects.
Tan was speaking at the start of a meeting of finance
ministers from the 21-member bloc on the Philippine resort
island of Cebu.
He also called for fiscal reforms to make policy more
effective, and stressed the importance of public-private
partnerships in financing the region's infrastructure needs,
estimated by the Asian Development Bank at $800 billion a year.
"For this to materialise, bankable projects have to be
identified in the pipeline and capital markets developed," he
said.
The Cebu meeting takes place amid growing concern over
slower growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, and
recent ructions in global financial markets following Beijing's
devaluation of its yuan currency last month.
APEC's members include the United States, China, Japan,
South Korea, Indonesia and Canada, and together account for 57
percent of global production and 46.5 percent of world trade.
In public, delegates have refrained from expressing concerns
about China, but one source at the closed-door talks said a lack
of financial market integration was partly to blame for recent
market swings.
"If China adhered to market forces it should have adjusted
more gradually," he said, asking not to be identified because of
the sensitivity of the issue.
Coming only days after a meeting of finance ministers from
the world's 20 largest economies in Ankara, Turkey, the APEC
talks risk being overshadowed. ID:nL5N11A0GO
This year, only a handful of governments have sent ministers
to represent them at the forum.
Asked if he was disappointed that so many ministers had
chosen to skip the meeting, Philippine Finance Undersecretary
Gil Beltran said that it was usual.
"That does not diminish our commitment to many of the
initiatives that we agree on," he said.
Peru is due to host next year's APEC meetings, but its
finance minister was among the no-shows.
Peruvian finance ministry official Fabier Roca Fabianis said
the minister himself could not come because of political
problems at home.
"This is not a measure of commitment - the presence or no
presence of the ministers," Fabianis said.
(Reporting Karen Lema, Rosemarie Francisco and Nicholas Owen;
Writing by Nicholas Owen; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)