Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah attended the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in Bangkok, Thailand from October 19 to 21.
The meeting was chaired by Thailand’s Minister of Finance Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.
In attendance were ministers from APEC Economies, APEC Secretariat Executive Director, and representatives from international financial institutions namely International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asian Development Bank.
The ministers exchanged views on the current global economic outlook and APEC Finance Ministers Process’ (FMP) priorities this year on sustainable finance and digitalisation for digital economy in retreat and plenary sessions.
A dialogue between the ministers and the APEC Business Advisory Council was also held where discussions focussed on inclusive digital finance.
Acknowledging the headwinds currently faced by the global economy, Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew, in his interventions, shared that Brunei Darussalam’s positive growth prospects following intensified economic diversification efforts as well as initiatives to address rising inflation.
The minister also welcomed Thailand’s priorities under the APEC FMP’s track, and, among others, conveyed the Sultanate’s perspectives on the following:
On the sustainability agenda, the recognition of the complementarities of various government policies to foster conducive ecosystem; the need to enable and incentivise companies, especially medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), to shift towards green business models; and the important role of the financial sector to mobilise private investment in green projects.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew looked forward to APEC FMP’s continued engagements, including to exploring common guidelines on green taxonomies.
On the digitalisation agenda, the appreciation of potential transformation of public services delivery and more efficient public finance management through digitalisation, economic opportunities unlocked and the challenges of tax uncertainties and incompliance in the digital economy, and putting in place infrastructures that ensure accessible and affordable digital connectivity.
He welcomed the APEC policy papers on these subjects as sources of references for member economies and APEC’s future cooperation and further acknowledged the OECD’s work on addressing tax in the digital economy.
