The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) finance and structural reform Ministers' Meeting opened on the 21st. It is the last high-level meeting before the APEC leaders' summit to be held in Gyeongju next week. This meeting is expected to feature broad discussions on innovation, finance, fiscal policy, and structural reform.
Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in opening remarks at the opening ceremony held the morning of the 21st at Inspire Resort on Yeongjongdo, Incheon, "We are on the verge of establishing the 'Incheon Plan,' a new roadmap for the APEC finance track for the next five years," adding, "I hope this meeting will produce substantive and productive discussions."
Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "With the 'Cebu Action Plan,' which laid out long-term direction over the past 10 years, coming to a close, we have prepared together a new five-year midterm roadmap," and emphasized, "The new Incheon Plan will be the biggest achievement of this year's APEC finance track."
Set to be a key outcome of the APEC finance Ministers' Meeting, the "Incheon Plan" consists of four pillars: ▲ innovation ▲ finance ▲ fiscal policy ▲ accessibility and opportunity for all.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "In the era of an AI great transformation, we must constantly consider and share solutions on the finance ministry's role in creating an innovation-friendly environment and supporting the private sector," adding, "Korea, with a sense of urgency that applying AI across all sectors of society is the only solution to raise the potential growth rate, is placing the AI great transformation at the top of policy priorities."
On finance, he said, "We must both promote innovation and build a responsible financial ecosystem," adding, "We must balance opportunities and risks and ensure that financial accessibility reaches vulnerable groups and remote regions."
On fiscal policy, he said, "In addition to traditional roles such as defense, welfare, and education, we must respond to structural social challenges such as aging and climate change. In particular, we must drive economic growth by concentrating resources where needed, such as the AI transition, to secure future growth engines," while adding, "At the same time, we must enhance fiscal sustainability through multifaceted efforts such as restructuring expenditure, overhauling tax exemptions and reductions, and securing revenue from tax evasion."
The final agenda item, "Accessibility and opportunity for all," addresses ways to expand the discussion of inclusive finance.
Attending the meeting are Ministers from 21 member economies, delegations from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank (WB), as well as more than 2,000 participants from domestic and overseas corporations, academia, and media. China and Japan are sending Vice Ministers, and the United States plans to send a deputy assistant secretary.
On opening day, discussions began with the opening of the finance Ministers' Meeting and covered the global and regional economic and financial outlook, digital finance, fiscal policy, and themes for next year's finance Ministers' Meeting.
On day two, a joint session between the finance and structural reform Ministers' Meetings will be held under the theme of "innovation and digitalization." In the afternoon, the structural reform Ministers' Meeting will open to discuss the role and future direction of structural reform and improvements to market and corporate environments in two sessions.
On the final day, the 23rd, after discussing realization of economic potential and other topics, a joint press conference will be held to announce the Incheon Plan.